@HurricaneTennis Drops Heartbreaker to FSU
CARY, N.C. – The second-seeded University of Miami women’s tennis team fell in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship Friday afternoon at the Cary Tennis Center to No. 10 seed Florida State.
The Hurricanes defeated the Seminoles twice in the regular season by a combined margin of 10-2, but dropped the match in the Tar Heel State, 4-3.
“Florida State played an unbelievable match. I’ve been telling the Florida State coach and I’ve been telling our team since the first time we played them this year that they’re a good team, that they’re a feisty team,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “. . . Anybody who knows tennis knows they’re better than their ranking, so of course I commend FSU on playing a great match with a lot of heart, a lot of fight. They came out and they played to win. We came out today and we played not to lose.”
As was the case when the teams squared off last Saturday, April 18, No. 73 Florida State (16-10, 6-8 ACC) won the doubles point. The Seminoles struck quickly to get a leg up, as No. 63 Gabriella Castaneda and Emily Fanning won 8-2 over senior Monique Albuquerque and junior Clementina Riobueno, ranked No. 51.
The Hurricanes trailed 7-5 in both remaining matches, but the duos from No. 15 Miami (16-6, 12-2 ACC) both showed superb fight. Freshman Sinead Lohan and junior Stephanie Wagner won two straight games and then took the tiebreaker over No. 69 Danieka Borthwick and Yukako Noi, 8-7 (7–3), to even the doubles score at one.
After falling behind 4-1 and 7-5, the 78th-ranked pair of senior Lina Lileikite and Wendy Zhang made it 7-6 and then had a break point to send it to a tiebreaker, but they were unable to convert. Instead, Mia Vriens and Kerrie Cartwright held on for an 8-6 win to put the Seminoles in front 1-0.
“I think Florida State having a couple matches under their belt definitely helped them from rhythmic standpoint, but I think from a physical standpoint it helped us,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “We’re fresh, they’re not. They might have some rhythm, we don’t. So I think it was kind of a wash there. We just got our teeth into the doubles match a little too late I thought.
Miami jumped out to a fast start in singles play to grab the lead in the match. No. 10 Wagner rolled past No. 88 Borthwick, 6-2, 6-2, for her second straight set win over the Florida State senior in the past week. No. 111 Lileikite then gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 edge by taking down Daniela Schippers, 6-2, 6-2.
The Seminoles then won two consecutive matches as well, as No. 116 Castaneda won 6-3, 6-4 over freshman Silvia Fuentes, followed by Fanning picking up a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Albuquerque. For Albuquerque, the loss snapped a 26-match winning streak in ACC regular season and ACC Championship contests.
No. 40 Lohan evened the match at three in impressive fashion. After winning the first set, she trailed 5-2 in the second, but won four straight games to go up 6-5. No. 118 Cartwright forced a tiebreaker and quickly Lohan jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Cartwright came back to even it at four, but Lohan closed with the final three points to take a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory.
All eyes then turned to the match between No. 74 Riobueno and Noi, in which Noi had taken the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-5), and then Riobueno won the second, 6-1. The first two games of the decisive third set went to Riobueno, but Noi bounced back and won the last six to take the match and give the Seminoles the win.
“Moving forward, we need to get back home, we need to take a couple days off, get back to NCAAs, and get focused on trying push through and play a solid NCAA Tournament,” Yaroshuk-Tews said.
For more information on University of Miami women’s tennis, follow @HurricaneTennis.
RESULTS
Singles Competition
1. No. 10 Stephanie Wagner (Miami) def. No. 88 Daneika Borthwick (FSU), 6-2, 6-2
2. No. 40 Sinead Lohan (Miami) def. No. 118 Kerrie Cartwright (FSU), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
3. Yuako Noi (FSU) def. No. 74 Clementina Riobueno (Miami), 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 6-2
4. No. 116 Gabriella Castaneda (FSU) (FSU) def. Silvia Fuentes (Miami), 6-3, 6-4
5. No. 111 Lina Lileikite (Miami) def. Daniela Schippers (FSU), 6-2, 6-2
6. Emily Fanning (FSU) def. Monique Albuquerque (Miami), 6-4, 6-4
Doubles Competition
1. Sinead Lohan/Stephanie Wagner (Miami) def. No. 69 Daneika Borthwick/Yukako Noi (FSU), 8-7 (7-3)
2. No. 63 Gabriella Castaneda/ Emily Fanning (FSU) def. No. 51 Monique Albuquerque/Clementina Riobueno (Miami), 8-2
3. Mia Vriens/Kerrie Cartwright (FSU) def. No. 78 Lina Lileikite/Wendy Zhang (Miami), 8-6
