Lohan, Wagner Receive Postseason ACC Honors
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team had two players recognized by the Atlantic Coast Conference in its postseason awards announced Wednesday morning.
Sinead Lohan became the first player in program history to be selected as ACC Freshman of the Year and was named Second Team All-ACC. Junior Stephanie Wagner received the third All-ACC honor of her career and was chosen as a First Team All-ACC member for the second season in a row.
“To have your program led by Stephanie Wagner and Sinead Lohan as players alone is just unbelievable,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “The fight and the heart that they bring to every match is probably some of the best that I’ve seen in my years here coaching at Miami. To have Steffi named First Team All-ACC and to have Sinead named ACC Freshman of the Year are huge honors. They are very well-deserved in my opinion and things that they’ve worked really hard for. It’s nice to see that the conference and the other coaches recognize their success and recognize all of their hard work. We’re looking for great things from them in the future.”
Lohan has been dominant in her first season of collegiate tennis, posting an outstanding 17-2 singles record this year. She is 14-2 in dual matches, including 3-1 at the top position and 11-1 at the No. 2 spot.
The Waterford, Ireland native is 10-2 in ACC singles matches and helped No. 15 Miami (16-5, 12-2 ACC) finish in second place in the conference.
Lohan has posted a 6-2 record against nationally ranked opponents, with four wins against players in the top 60 and two in the top 40. In Miami’s 5-2 win at eighth-ranked Virginia March 27, Lohan defeated No. 31 Danielle Collins, the reigning NCAA Singles Champion and a First Team All-ACC selection.
In addition to being ranked in the top 45 in singles all season, Lohan has made multiple appearances in the doubles rankings. Playing with two different partners this year, Lohan has combined to go 12-7, including 9-4 (4-1 ACC) with fellow freshman Wendy Zhang.
Lohan finished No. 10 in All-ACC voting, placing her just one spot off the First Team list.
“I am so happy to have been chosen as the ACC Freshman of the Year. It is such an honor,” Lohan said. “It’s always great to be rewarded for hard work and it motivates me to keep improving my game. I’m excited for the ACC Tournament this weekend and the NCAA Tournament in May.”
Wagner has been among the nation’s elite players in both singles and doubles this season, consistently being one of just a handful of players in the top 10 of both rankings. She has been outside the top 10 just once in singles and just once in doubles.
A native of Amberg, Germany, Wagner is 14-6 overall in singles play this season, with a 13-4 mark in dual matches. Of Wagner’s 17 dual match results, 13 have come at the No. 1 spot, where she has posted a 10-3 record. She is also 3-1 when playing No. 2 singles.
Wagner has eight wins against nationally ranked singles players, including a victory over No. 20 Joana Eidukonyte, a fellow First Team All-ACC pick, in Miami’s 7-0 win against No. 14 Clemson March 1. Wagner also posted a straight set road win over No. 31 Blair Shankle of sixth-ranked Baylor March 17.
In doubles competition, Wagner has recorded a 6-2 mark when playing at the top spot this season, including 2-0 with Lohan.
Just three players received more points in the All-ACC voting than Wagner did and she is one of only eight players in the conference with at least three career All-ACC selections.
“It is an honor to be First Team All-ACC for the second year in a row,” Wagner said. “It has been a great year and now I am excited to finish the season strong at the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.”
Miami will begin postseason play Friday in Cary, N.C. at the ACC Tournament. The opponent for the second-seeded Hurricanes is yet to be determined, but could be seventh-seeded and 36th-ranked Notre Dame, 10th-seeded and 73rd-ranked Florida State or No. 15 seed Pittsburgh.
To keep up with the Hurricanes during time at the ACC Tournament, as well as to learn more about University of Miami women’s tennis, follow @HurricaneTennis.
YAROSHUK-TEWS ON LOHAN
“I think it’s a well-deserved honor, I’m glad that people recognized her. She came in fall semester as a freshman and was a little out of shape physically and a little under the radar, I think, and then just really took the conference by storm beginning in January. To defeat some of the players that she has taken down just says so much about her character and just how good she is. I’ve been saying from the beginning that this kid’s pretty special and I think that she’s going to surprise a lot of people moving forward.”
YAROSHUK-TEWS ON WAGNER
“Steffi has been recognized every year by the conference for her performance throughout the regular season. She’s been probably one of our most consistent players and to be that consistent in the top spot just says so much about her. She’s come so far from her freshman year. She’s improved every year and I’m sure as we move forward the improvement will continue. She’s been a great leader for the program and for the younger kids and I know that she and Sinead have really pushed each other throughout the season.”
