ACC's Top Tandem Leading No. 5 Miami Down the Stretch
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The fifth-ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team will wrap up its regular season road schedule this weekend with a pair of matches at No. 46 Boston College and No. 26 Maryland.
The Hurricanes (15-4, 7-1 ACC) will face the Eagles (7-10, 2-5) on Friday in Chestnut Hill, Mass. before taking on the Terps (12-5, 2-5) Saturday in College Park, Md.
Carrying the ‘Canes
No two teammates in the ACC have had more success or more of an impact on their team than Bianca Eichkorn and Anna Bartenstein have had for the Hurricanes this season.
As UM’s top two singles players, eighth-ranked Eichkorn and 48th-ranked Bartenstein are a combined 15-1 in ACC, easily the best mark of any other 1-2 punch in the league. The pair’s success has carried over into doubles play, where the 11th-ranked team is 7-1 in ACC play at No. 1.
“They are playing great tennis,” head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “They’ve been super focused and have leading the team really well.”
Eichkorn is 28-6 overall, 17-2 in dual match play and a perfect 8-0 in ACC play in Miami’s top singles spot. She recently earned her fourth ACC Player of the Week honor and is just three singles victories shy of the UM record, which is currently held by Laura Vallverdu at 131.
Bartenstein is 18-6 overall and 7-1 in ACC at No. 2. She has won nine of her last 10 dual matches.
“Anna’s composure has just gone to a completely different level with her composure and professionalism on the court,” Yaroshuk-Tews said.
Singles and doubles combined, Eichkorn and Bartenstein are an impressive 22-2 in ACC play.
“They need to continue as is,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “As this season progresses, they can’t get the feeling they need to do more or better. We’ve been doing great simply doing what we’ve been doing. We’ve just got to keep it real simple and Bianca and Anna will continue to do a great job.”
Last Trip
Miami is 5-1 in true road matches this season and a perfect 4-0 on ACC opponents’ courts, with three of those wins coming against Top 25 opposition.
This weekend, the ‘Canes have a chance to finish the season undefeated in league play away from Coral Gables and pick up two more wins over Top 50 opponents.
“I think we are all excited to finish up the dual match road season strong,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “We’ve played a lot of big matches on the road this year and I talked to the girls about the most important focus of this weekend is to taking one day at a time, one match at a time and one situation at a time.
The Hurricanes are slated to take on the Eagles Friday at 1 p.m. in Chestnut Hill, Mass, fly down to Maryland that night and turnaround and play the Terps the next day.
“We’ve been responding real well in situations where we are playing on someone else’s home court and we just have to keep responding and stay focused and do what we have been doing, which is working real hard and playing better doubles,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “Obviously that is a focus this weekend as well.”
Tight at the Top
At 7-1 in conference play, the Hurricanes are tied with North Carolina for second place in the ACC. Both teams currently sit a half a match back of first-place Duke, who improved to 7-0 with a 4-3 win over the Tar Heels on Wednesday.
Of the three, the ‘Canes appear to have the easiest road ahead with matches against No. 26 Maryland, No. 46 Boston College and No 4 Duke. The Tar Heels have No. 12 Georgia Tech, No. 11 Clemson and No. 31 Florida State while Duke has the toughest stretch remaining having to face the Tigers, Yellow Jackets, Seminoles and ‘Canes over the next 10 days.
Terps Climbing
Despite its 2-5 record in ACC play, Maryland has proven itself to be one of the most improved programs nationally this season. After finishing the 2010 season out of the Top 75 rankings, the Terps have climbed all the way up to as high as No. 24 a few weeks back, and have recently scored big wins over Georgia Tech and Virginia.
The ‘Canes are slated to play the Terps outdoors at the Cole Tennis Courts but the match could potentially be moved indoors to the Tennis Center at College Park depending on weather.
BC First
Before taking on the Terps, Miami will face a Boston College team that is also 2-5 in ACC play, with a pair of 4-3 wins over Maryland and Virginia Tech in early February to their credit. However, BC will enter the match having lost five straight, but did recently turn in competitive matches against No. 23 Clemson (4-3) and No. 3 North Carolina (5-2).
Friday’s match will be played indoors, as temperatures are expected to be the upper 40’s and lower 50’s tomorrow in Boston.
For additional information on the UM women’s tennis team, visit TheUTennis.com.
