Canes Reach Sweet 16 For the Sixth Straight Season
May 14, 2011
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team is headed to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the sixth straight season. The fifth-ranked and top-seeded Hurricanes defeated No. 2 seed Texas, 4-1, Saturday afternoon in second round action of the Coral Gables Regional at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. Miami will now travel to Palo Alto, Calif. for the NCAA team championships, which will begin on Friday, May 20 at the Taube Tennis Center. “It’s amazing,” head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “The fact that our girls have been doing this year in and year out is hard to grasp the significance of. We take it day by day, but when you really sit back and take a look at the big picture, it’s pretty special. “It’s so nice for me as a coach to see them experience the best moments in college tennis, which is what they deserve. We’ve put them through a lot and they’ve gone through a lot but they are very resilient.”
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Ahead 3-1, sophomore Danielle Mills clinched the win for Miami (20-6) a day after she did the same against FIU. Mills defeated Juliana Gajic, 6-3, 6-2, in the No. 5 position to send the Canes to California. “I told the team after the match that when great teams do special things in the tournament, it’s usually one person turning it on when it needs to be turned on,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “Mills put her foot on the gas pedal the last two days. It says a lot about her as a teammate and as a person. She is playing some of the best tennis she has played in a long time.” Serving as an NCAA host for the seventh straight season, Miami made quick work of both FIU on Friday and the Longhorns (17-8) on Saturday, combining to go 8-1 on the weekend. Much like they had in their opening round match, the Canes claimed the doubles point before jumping ahead in the majority of the singles matches. Gabriela Mejia didn’t waste any time giving the Canes their second point of the afternoon, as the junior picked up an easy 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 3 over Maggie Mello. The only point against Miami during the regional then came in the No. 4 position, where UT’s Amanda Craddock earned a 6-4, 6-1 win over Kayla Rizzolo. That would be it, however, for the Longhorns. Battling back after falling down in the first set, fifth-ranked Bianca Eichkorn earned a 7-5, 6-1 victory at No. 1 to put Miami within a point of the victory. Less than 10 minutes later, Mills closed out the regional with her win at No. 5. The match was Eichkorn’s last on her home court as the senior will now close out her career in California. “I’m also not doubting for a second that Anna Bartenstein won’t step into that spot next year and do great things as well. Regardless, Bianca is going to be missed here.” Miami won’t know its opponent until Sunday, but top-seeded Michigan and No. 2 seed Tulsa are the most likely opponents. The Canes beat the Wolverines, 4-3, on March 2 in Coral Gables. UM did not meet Tulsa during the regular season. Miami is now 37-25 all-time in the NCAA tournament and 24-10 under Yaroshuk-Tews, who on Friday won her 200th match as a head coach in UM’s 4-0 win over FIU. 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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