Miami Falls to North Carolina in Top 10 Matchup

CORAL GABLES, Fla. –The third-ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team dropped its first Atlantic Coast Conference match of the season, 4-3, to sixth-ranked North Carolina in a highly competitive contest that came down to the wire Wednesday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

The `Canes held a 3-1 lead with very tight matches being played on courts three, four and five. However in just a few moment’s time, the Tar Heels’ Jelena Durisic (6-2, 3-6, 6-4) and Haley Hemm (6-4, 7-6) secured narrow wins over Miami’s Melissa Bolivar and Brittany Dubins respectively.

The victory clinching match between UNC’s Gina Suarez-Malaguti and Danielle Mills looked like it might be heading to a third set as Mills fought off match point, forcing deuce and then gaining the advantage. However, the ball didn’t bounce Miami’s way on this day and Suarez-Malaguti eventually secured the win 7-6, 7-5.

“It obviously was a disappointing outcome,” head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “But, I am really happy with the way the girls competed. It was a good match. It came down to just a few details.”

The ACC’s reigning Player of the Week Bianca Eichkorn – ranked No. 10 in the latest ITA individual rankings – cruised to a straight-set victory over the nation’s 14th-ranked player Zoe De Bruycker, 6-2, 6-0.

Anna Bartenstein and Gabriela Mejia played hard from the start and dispatched their opponents Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale in straight sets as well at 6-3, 6-4 and 6-4, 6-2 respectively.

North Carolina took the hard fought doubles point as the teams of Featherston/McHale and De Bruycker/Suarez-Malaguti each earned tie-break matches over Bartenstein/Eichkorn and Mills/Dubins respectively at 9-8 (8-6) and 9-8 (7-4).

“We knew the doubles point was really important today and starting off down 1-0 was big,” added Yaroshuk-Tews. “We have been doing a really good job of playing with the momentum and holding the momentum, and today we were a little inconsistent.”

The loss drops the Hurricanes to 10-3 overall and 3-1 in ACC play with all four league matches against Top 25 opponents. North Carolina played it first ACC match of the season and improved to 10-3 on the season.

Miami will next take a road trip to Texas to face No. 75 TCU and No. 5 Baylor on March 12 and March 14.

For additional coverage of the UM women’s tennis team, visit TheUTennis.com.

No. 6 North Carolina (10-3, 0-1 ACC) def. No. 3 Miami (10-3, 3-1 ACC), 4-3
March 9, 2011 – Neil Schiff Tennis Center

Singles
1.     #10 Bianca Eichkorn(UM) def. #14 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC), 6-2, 6-0
2.     #75 Anna Bartenstein (UM) def. #57 Shinann Featherston (UNC), 6-3, 6-4
3.     Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Danielle Mills (UM), 7-6, 7-5
4.     Jelena Durisic (UNC) def. Melissa Bolivar (UM), 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
5.     Gabriela Mejia (UM) def. #105 Lauren McHale (UNC), 6-4, 6-2
6.     Laurianne Henry (UNC) def. Brittany Dubins (UM), 6-4, 7-6

Order of finish: 1, 2, 5, 4, 6, 3*

Doubles
1.     #5 Featherston/McHale (UNC), 8-4 def. #27 Bartenstein/Eichkorn (UM), 9-8 (6)
2.     Mejia/Bolivar(UM) def. Durisic/Lyons (UNC), 8-2
3.     De Bruycker/Suarez-Malaguti def. Mills/Dubins (UM), 9-8 (4)

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3