No. 12 Canes Down No. 21 Yale, 6-1
March 17, 2012
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The 12th -ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team, now in the final-stretch of its eight game homestand, picked up its eighth straight win against No. 21 Yale University Saturday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
The 6-1 victory bumps the Canes record to 10-1 on the season.
The Bulldogs came into Saturday’s match with all three of their doubles teams currently ranked among the Top 60, but the Hurricanes proceeded to seize control of the match early on, by sweeping each doubles match to earn the first point of the day.
The 28th-ranked doubles tandem of Liat Zimmerman and Melissa Bolivar quickly upset the 25th-ranked duo of Vicky Brook and Hanna Yu 8-2 to start things off. Gabriela Mejia and Lina Lilekite (No. 74) would then best Yale’s 37th-ranked Elizabeth Epstein and Annie Sullivan 8-3, extending their winning streak to 12 matches in the process. Anna Bartenstein and Brittany Dubins would round things out with a well-earned 8-7 victory over No. 58 Steph Kent and Blair Seideman.
In singles play, the Hurricanes were led by seniors Anna Bartenstein and Gabriela Mejia, who posted simultaneous victories at No. 1 and No. 2 singles to advance the UM lead to 3-0. No. 20 Bartenstein topped Epstein, 6-0, 6-4 and No. 32 Mejia took down Yu, 6-1, 6-2.
Yale would earn its only point of the day as Dubins fell to Sullivan in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3
Bolivar ultimately clinched the match for Miami as she routed Yale’s Steph Kent, 6-4, 6-2. The win enhanced her singles record to an impressive 11-2 on the year.
With the match in hand, Zimmerman and Lilekite had yet to post victories of their own. Zimmerman eventually won her fifth straight match (7-6, 6-3) over Vicky Brook and the 99th-ranked Lilekite battled back to beat Seideman 4-6, 7-6, 10-2. Lilekite is now 11-1 on the year.
The Canes next match will be against the Princeton Tigers on Tuesday, March 20th at 12 p.m. at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
For all of the latest on the UM women’s tennis team, visit hurricanesports.com or check out our blog at TheUTennis.com.
