Hurricanes Take Down No. 14 Longhorns
Feb. 11, 2012
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 11 University of Miami women’s tennis team bounced back after a tough loss yesterday, with a 4-2 win Saturday against the No.14 Texas Longhorns in the second day of play at the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville, Va.
Miami opened the match with a doubles win at the No. 3 position as senior Gabriela Mejia and freshman Lina Lilekite took an 8-2 victory. However in a repeat of yesterday’s action, the Canes would lose the doubles point with back-to-back losses at the No. 2 and No. 1 positions.
“Texas is a tough doubles team, and we have some new teams playing for us,” said Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews. “I actually thought we played better in doubles today, but that’s college tennis for you.
“I think Cal is just a better team than us, and they really pushed us around yesterday. We just didn’t play on our terms against them. I told them today we were going to come out and play on our terms, and that’s what we did. I am glad they listened, processed, and did what we asked them to do.”
From there, the Hurricanes would excel in singles play, with victories in four of the five matches to end the day.
The squad earned their first point as senior Anna Bartenstein (No.15) won the No. 1 singles spot (6-2, 6-3) against 47th-ranked Aeriel Ellis. Fellow senior, Gabriela Mejia (No.39), would follow with a (6-4, 6-2) victory of her own at No.2 against 119th-ranked Noel Scott.
Freshman Liat Zimmerman took the No. 5 singles match to give Miami a 3-1 lead.
The Longhorns would battle back and clinch the No. 6 singles spot as sophomore Brittany Dubins fell short to Elizabeth Begley (6-4, 6-2), but sophomore Melissa Bolivar would seal the win for the Hurricanes in a close match at the No. 4 (6-3, 1-6, 6-1).
The Hurricanes will return to play tomorrow against No. 23 Ole Miss at 9 a.m.
For more information regarding the 2012 ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championship, visit www.ITATennis.com. For additional coverage of Miami’s women’s tennis team, visit www.TheUTennis.com.
