Yaroshuk-Tews Wins 200th As Miami Cruises Past FIU in NCAA Opener
May 13, 2011
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team is advancing into the second round of the NCAA Championship for the 10th straight season as the top-seeded Hurricanes cruised past No. 4 seed FIU, 4-0, Friday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. Miami (19-6) will now face Texas (17-7) in the Coral Gables Regional final on Saturday at 11 a.m. The win improved the Canes’ all-time NCAA record to 36-25 overall and 23-10 under head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews, who with Friday’s win clinched her 200th career victory as a head coach. “It’s nice,” Yaroshuk-Tews said after the match. “It’s the result of a lot of great teams and a lot of great girls in this program. It’s crazy to think that it’s already 200.” Miami started out the match winning the doubles point at No. 1 and No. 3 before the Canes won four of the first sets in singles play. Surprisingly, the only two initial sets Miami didn’t win were at No. 1 and No. 2, spots the Canes usually dominate. |
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Instead, Friday belonged to the lower half of the line-up where Melissa Bolivar, Kayla Rizzolo and Danielle Mills took care of business with straight set wins to give the Canes the shut-out victory. First it was Bolivar, who claimed a 6-3, 6-0 win over Giuletta Boha at No. 6. Then, Rizzolo picked up a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Maria Spenceley at No. 4 to make it 3-0. All the while Bianca Eichkorn and Anna Bartenstein were battling back after slow starts at No. 1 and No. 2. After both lost their first sets, momentum began to shift in UM’s favor as both forced a third set. But in the end, neither point was needed as Mills won a 7-5, 6-3 decision over Rita Maisak at No. 5 to send the Canes into the next round. “I think we did a great job at four through six, taking care of business when one and two started off struggling a little bit,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “It was a great team effort and that is what I told the girls moving forward. We are going to have to continue to have a great team effort to continue on.” The win was Miami’s third over FIU this season, as the Canes had previously beaten the Panthers 5-2 on Jan. 29 and 7-0 on Feb. 11. But despite the 4-0 result, Friday’s action was much closer than the two previous meetings between the two teams this season. “FIU is a talented team,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “We knew that coming in and they showed it today. They played better today against us than they did the other two times this season. That is what I am always expecting every time we play FIU. I know they have the ability to do that. They came out, played without fear and with nothing to lose.” Miami opened the match with an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles and an 8-6 win at No. 3. The win at No. 1 was the 11th straight win for the fifth-ranked tandem of Eichkorn and Bartenstein. Miami is 9-11 all-time against Texas. The last time the two teams met, Miami clinched a 4-3 decision on Feb. 16, 2007. The Longhorns beat USF, 4-0, earlier on Friday in the first match of the Coral Gables Regional. For additional coverage of the UM women’s tennis team, visit TheUTennis.com. 2011 CORAL GABLES REGIONAL Friday, May 13 Saturday, May 14
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