Canes Ready For Another NCAA Tourney Run
CORAL GABLES, Fla.- The fifth-ranked and top-seeded University of Miami women’s tennis team is set to open play in the 2011 NCAA Championships when it takes on No. 4 seed FIU Friday at 1 p.m. at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in the opening round of the Coral Gables Regional.
The meeting between Miami (18-6) and FIU (13-6) will mark this third this season and 27th all-time. The Canes beat the Panthers 5-2 on Jan. 29 and 7-0 on Feb. 11 and own an all-time record of 25-1 against FIU.
“I think it’s important for us to get going right where we left off,” said head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews, who is one win shy of the 200-win mark for her career. “The last match we played against UNC we competed hard and played good tennis. That shouldn’t change this weekend.”
Miami owns a 14-6 mark against ranked opponents this season. The `Canes are a perfect 13-0 against teams ranked outside of the Top 10. FIU comes in ranked 64th.
UM will be led by ACC Player of the Year Bianca Eichkorn, who will be attending commencement ceremonies less than 24 hours before the Canes take the courts. Eichkorn, who owns a school record 132 career singles victories, is 32-6 overall and 21-2 in dual match play in Miami’s top singles position.
She will be joined in the top half of the lineup by Anna Bartenstein and Gabriela Mejia. Bartenstein is 18-4 in dual match play at No. 2 and rides an eight-match winning streak into this weekend’s action. Mejia is 22-9 overall this year and 16-6 in dual match play.
“The girls have had a busy week with finals and graduation but they are playing well and they are fresh,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “We just need to come out and play as hard as we can for every point on every court the next two days. If we are able to do that one through six singles and one through three doubles for two consecutive days, I think we will have a great outcome. We’re going to have to play well.”
The first match of the regional between No. 2 seed Texas (16-7) and No. 3 seed USF (11-11) is slated for 10 a.m. The winners of Friday’s matches will move to play in the regional championship match on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Hurricanes are serving as an NCAA host for the seventh straight season in 2011. The Canes have advanced into the Sweet 16 each of the past five years, reaching the quarterfinal round in 2010, 2009 and 2007.
Miami is 35-25 all-time in 25 NCAA appearances and 22-10 in Yaroshuk-Tews’ 10 seasons at the helm.
Click here for live scoring of three matches of the Coral Gables Regional.
For additional coverage of UM’s women’s tennis team, visit TheUTennis.com .
