Matchups Set for NCAA Singles & Doubles
ATHENS, Ga. – Draws for the individual NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship were announced Tuesday morning, setting the matchups for Miami women’s tennis’ three qualifiers: singles player Stephanie Wagner and doubles team Monique Albuquerque and Clementina Riobueno.
No. 29 Wagner will play her first round match against Florida’s 16th-ranked Brianna Morgan on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. Entering the NCAA Singles Championship with a 21-4 record, Wagner will face the Gators’ top player for the first time in her career.
Morgan has posted a 29-6 mark this season and has two wins against top 10 opponents. Morgan and the Florida Gators advanced to the semifinals of the 2014 team championship. During her matches in Athens last week, Morgan defeated Vanderbilt’s Georgina Sellyn and sixth-ranked Lauren Herring of Georgia.
Wagner has already tallied five wins against nationally-ranked opponents this spring—with the highest ranked win coming against 3rd-ranked Julia Elbaba. Last time out in Miami’s Round of 16 match against UCLA, Wagner won the first set against 2nd-ranked Robin Anderson.
“Stephanie is playing great tennis,” head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “It’s going to be important to get off to quick start and start the individual tournament where she left off the team championship.”
In the first round of the doubles championship, Miami’s 8th-ranked pair of Monique Albuquerque and Clementina Riobueno will play Georgia’s No. 19 Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia on Thursday. The Hurricanes’ top doubles duo enters the match feeling confident, fresh off their win against the nation’s No. 1 doubles team, Jennifer Brady and Robin Anderson of UCLA.
Overall this spring, Albuquerque and Riobueno have posted a 20-3 record with six of those wins coming against nationally-ranked opponents. Playing at No. 2 doubles for top-ranked Georgia, Fuller and Garcia enter the first round match with a 27-4 record and four wins against ranked teams.
“Clementina and Monique are coming off their biggest win of the season,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “But they have to realize that they played such great tennis because they were so aggressive from the first point. If they bring that same mentality into this doubles tournament, they can make a deep run.”
Doubles play in the NCAA Championship is slightly different than the regular eight-game pro set that is played in regular dual matches. Each doubles match will play a best out of three-set match to determine the winner. Singles matches remain with their usual format.
Each subsequent round will take place the following day, with an additional round being played every day until the singles and doubles championship round on Monday, May 26.
Live stats and video for each match of the tournament can be viewed here. For up to date information from Athens this week, follow @HurricaneTennis on Twitter and Instagram.
