@HurricaneTennis Prepares For Bedford Classic
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – After a positive performance last weekend in California at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, the University of Miami women’s tennis team returned to the Neil Schiff Tennis Center this week to begin preparations for the Bedford Classic.
Hosted in Jacksonville by the University of North Florida, play at the Bedford Classic will begin this Friday at 9:00 a.m., with a singles and doubles champion being crowned on Sunday.
At Riviera, the unranked veteran doubles team of junior Stephanie Wagner and senior Lina Lileikite stormed their way into the tournament’s main draw. The pair won all three of their matches in the qualifications bracket to advance to the main draw. After a main draw first-round elimination, the pair entered the consolation bracket and advanced to the final.
On their way to the consolation final, Wagner and Lileikite defeated three ranked opponents: No. 12 Nadia Ravita and Aldila Sutjiadi (Kentucky), No. 17 Courtney Colton and Sydney Campbell (Vanderbilt) and No. 31 Lynn Chi and Zsofi Susanyi (Cal).
Wagner and Lileikite have developed an undeniable chemistry on the court and head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews has taken notice, believing they have proven that they can be a winning doubles team.
“We all know that they’re a great doubles team. It’s nice to see they have made a decision to come together to communicate well and bring out each other’s strengths,” Yaroshuk-Tews elaborated. “To take down as many top teams as they did was huge. It’s been huge for our program.”
Miami’s doubles pair of No. 3 Monique Albuquerque and Clementina Riobueno also played well at Riviera, advancing to the quarterfinals of the main draw.
At Riviera, only upperclassmen competed, but at Bedford it will be the freshmen’s time to shine, as four of Miami’s five newcomers will take center court in Jacksonville.
Sinead Lohan, Silvia Fuentes and Wendy Zhang will be competing in Flight A of singles and Judith Bohnenkamp will participate in Flight B.
In doubles, Lohan and Zhang will are scheduled in Flight A and Fuentes and Bohnenkamp will be in Flight B.
Despite their lack of tournament experience, Yaroshuk-Tews has trained the underclassmen for this weekend, as it will be a tool to prepare them for regionals, where the entire team will compete together.
“They are ready,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “They’ve been training hard, making minor adjustments and transitioning to college life. They have been busy, but they are ready to play.”
When asked whether she thought the freshmen are nervous, Yaroshuk-Tews replied that their demeanor has remained calm.
“This is not a group that fears competition,” she added. “They look forward to competing. That’s the type of player that we want around here.”
Singles and doubles play both begin Friday with two rounds of doubles and one of singles. On Saturday, two rounds of singles and doubles are scheduled, with the final round being played Sunday morning.
Only teams and singles players that lose in the first round will be eligible to participate in the consolation bracket.
For updates from the Bedford Classic and on the program follow @HurricaneTennis.
Click here to track the match results.
Scheduled matches (Oct. 10):
Singles
Flight A
Wendy Zhang (Miami) vs. Esther Zuniga (UNF) – 1:00 p.m.
Silvia Fuentes (Miami) vs. Daneika Borthwick (FSU) – 1:00 p.m.
Sinead Lohan (Miami) vs. Sarah Means (FGCU) – 1:00 p.m.
Flight B
Judith Bohnenkamp (Miami) vs. Emily Fanning (FSU) – 2:30 p.m.
Doubles
Flight A
Sinead Lohan and Wendy Zhang (Miami) vs. Carlotta Orlando and Kaitlin Brozovich (FIU) – 9:00 a.m.
Flight B
Silvia Fuentes and Judith Bohnenkamp (Miami) vs. Hailey Grillo and Laura Argente Escamilla (USF) – 10:00 a.m.
