Miami Women's Tennis Midseason Report

March 17, 2011

TheUTennis.com l ITA Rankings l ACC Women’s Tennis

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – After facing 10 Top 25 teams in its first 15 matches this season, the sixth-ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team is taking a well-deserved break.

Miami (11-4, 3-1 ACC) is in the midst of a 12-day lay-off as prepares for the season’s second half, which will start with a match at No. 11 Virginia on Saturday, March 26.

The Hurricanes have about a month left in the regular season, with the ACC Tournament slated for late March with the NCAAs to follow a few weeks later.

Here is a quick look back at the season’s first half and what lies ahead for the `Canes…..

Eichkorn is East Coast’s Top Ranked Player
All-America senior Bianca Eichkorn is currently the top-ranked collegiate women’s player on the East Coast, coming in at No. 6 in the latest Campbell/ITA singles rankings released Tuesday.

Playing No. 1 singles for the `Canes, Eichkorn is 24-6 overall, 13-2 in dual match play and a perfect 4-0 against ACC opponents.

She has nine wins over ranked opponents this year and has been named ACC Player of the Week three times, including each of the last two weeks.

Seven Straight for Bartenstein
In addition to Eichkorn’s success at No. 1, 39th-ranked Anna Bartenstein has been the team’s hottest player as of late as she is currently riding a seven-match win streak in the No. 2 position.

In just the month of March, Bartenstein has defeated five ranked opponents, including No. 36 Diana Nakic of Baylor and No. 30 Jillian O’Neill of Georgia Tech. She ranks second on UM’s roster in dual match wins (10), is 7-2 against ranked opponents overall and joins Eichkorn with an unblemished 4-0 record against ACC foes.

Together, Bartenstein and Eichkorn are also ranked 13th in doubles and are 13-2 in dual match play in the Hurricanes’ No. 1 position.

`Canes in the ACC
The Hurricanes have won three of their first four matches in Atlantic Coast Conference play this season, beating No. 15 Florida State, No. 21 Georgia Tech and No.11 Clemson before dropping a close 4-3 decision to No. 6 North Carolina last week in Coral Gables.

Duke and Boston College are currently tied for the ACC lead with 2-0 records in conference play.

Miami is the only ACC team to have already played four league matches, let alone having all four come against Top 25 opponents.

A Few Things to Watch Out For
With seven more matches to play in the regular season followed by the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, there is a decent chance that both head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews and senior Bianca Eichkorn reach separate career milestones over the next few months.

Already the program’s all-time winningest coach, Yaroshuk-Tews needs just eight more wins to reach 200 in her career. Now in her 10th season at the helm, Yaroshuk-Tews is 192-58 (.768) all-time as the Hurricanes’ head coach.

Eichkorn is closing in on something just as significant.

With 124 career singles wins as of today, the Tengen, Germay native needs seven more victories to tie her former teammate Laura Vallverdu for the most wins in program history.

Vallverdu tallied a record of 131-34 (.794) from 2006-2010 while Eichkorn, who came to UM in the fall of 2007, is currently 124-28 (.816) in her career.

Looking Ahead
Miami’s remaining regular season schedule features three matches at home and four on the road leading up to the ACC Tournament, which will begin on April 21 in Cary, N.C.

Miami’s remaining home matches are against Wake Forest (April 1), NC State (April 3) and Duke (April 15). The `Canes last four regular season road matches are at Virginia (March 26), at Virginia Tech (March 27), at Boston College (April 8) and at Maryland (April 9).