Miami Stopped by No. 2 Gators in NCAA Quarters

May 19, 2012

ATHENS, Ga. – After falling in a long, dramatic doubles affair, the University of Miami Hurricanes were unable to recover in a 4-0 loss to Florida in the NCAA Quarterfinals at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on Saturday.

The doubles point came down to a marathon match at No. 3 with Miami’s duo of Anna Bartenstein and Brittany Dubins battling back from a 4-1 hole and tying the match at 6. However, the 100-minute battle ended with the UF tandem of Alex Cercone and Caroline Hitmana winning the last two points for the 8-6 victory.

Miami’s 76th-ranked pair of Gabriela Mejia and Lina Lileikite won their match over No. 22 Joanna Mather and Lauren Embree, 8-4, after UM’s Melissa Bolivar and Liat Zimmermann fell, 8-3, to the Gator’s top-ranked squad of Sophie Oyen and Allie Will.

Florida closed the door on the Canes with wins at Nos. 5, 6 and 3 as UF’s No. 79 Cercone, Oliva Janowicz and No. 21 Joanna Mather defeated Miami’s Zimmermann (6-2, 6-2), Dubins (6-3, 6-2) and Lina Lileikite (6-2, 6-4) respectively.

At No. 1 singles, 18th-ranked Bartenstein was battling against the top-ranked Will. At the same time, Mejia was on her way to forcing a third set against the Gators’ Lauren Embree.

Miami ends its year with a 21-5 overall record and finished the regular season with only three losses – tied for the fewest since the program was re-established in 1992.
The NCAA Quarterfinal appearance was the fourth straight and the sixth in the last seven seasons for the 10th-seeded Hurricanes – who had only six players on its roster for the 2012 campaign.

Seniors Bartenstein and Mejia will make up two of the 64 individuals selected for the NCAA Singles Championship, while Bolivar and Zimmerman make up one of 32 doubles teams in the field.

The singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 23-28 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,6,3)