April 4, 2012

 

No. 49 Fresno State No. 7 Miami 2 5 #1 Singles 1 2 3 No. 18 Anna Bartenstein 6 3 7 No. 47 Marianne Jodoin 4 6 10 #2 Singles 1 2 3 No. 26 Gabriela Mejia 6 6   Aishwarya Agrawal 2 3   #3 Singles 1 2 3 No. 110 Lina Lileikite 7 6   Olga Kiripcheva 5 1   #4 Singles 1 2 3 Liat Zimmerman 6 7   Melissa McQueen 1 5   #5 Singles 1 2 3 Melissa Bolivar 6 6   Laura Pola 3 1   #6 Singles 1 2 3 Brittany Dubins 6 3   Tanya Murtagh 4 2   #1 Doubles 1 2 No. 24 Bolivar/Zimmerman 8   Jodoin/Pola 4   #2 Doubles 1 2 No. 37 Mejia/Lileikite 6   Agrawal/Modoc 8   #3 Doubles 1 2 Bartenstein/Dubins 7   McQueen/Kiripcheva 9

CORAL GABLES, Fla.- The No. 7 University of Miami women’s tennis team defeated the No. 49 Fresno State Bulldogs Wednesday, 5-2, at the Neil Schiff tennis Center.

The Hurricanes got off to a sluggish start as they allowed Fresno State to battle back in doubles play. Even though Melissa Bolivar and Liat Zimmerman were able to pull off a solid 8-4 victory at No.1, the Canes No. 2 and No. 3 tandems dropped their match’s after losing control of their initial leads to ultimately surrender the first point to the Bulldogs.

“I think it worked out well… that we were able to play and dig out of the trenches,” said Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews after her team dropped the doubles point. “Although, the way we went down isn’t something that I want to get used to.”

Fresno State’s lead would not last long however, as Miami seized momentum in singles action, taking five straight matches, before Anna Bartenstein lost a close match to No. 47 Marianne Jodoin to make the final score 5-2 in favor of UM.

Bolivar got things going in singles with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 5, and was followed by Gabriela Mejia who grabbed her 13th victory of the season with a 6-2, 6-3 route of Aishwarya Agrawal at the No. 2 position.

The Canes pair of freshmen, Zimmerman and Lina Lilekite continued their recent success as they both defeated their opponents in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5 and 7-5, 6-1 respectively. Zimmerman has not lost a match since February and Lilekite continues to add to her win column, which now stands at 16 since joining the team this January.

After taking the first set, 6-4, Brittany Dubins’ opponent Tanya Murtagh would withdraw due to injury giving Miami its final point of the day.

The match opened with a short ceremony in honor of Dick Hawkins who recently lost a battle with acute myeloid leukemia. Dick was a dedicated fan who had attended every home match the past four years with his wife Peggy, who carries on his legacy of unflagging, enthusiastic support for the team.

The Canes face a challenging weekend ahead as they travel to the Tar Heel state to face No. 3 Duke on Friday and No. 8 North Carolina on Saturday. The matches will start at 3 p.m. and 11 a.m. respectively. The Hurricane, Blue Devils and Tar Heels are each undefeated in ACC play heading into the weekend.

ORDER OF FINISH

Doubles
2, 3, 1

Singles
5, 2, 4, 3, 6, 1