@CanesWTennis Knocks off No. 10 Oklahoma St.
MADISON, Wis. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team earned a thrilling comeback win over No. 10 Oklahoma State Sunday in consolation play at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
No. 11 Miami (4-2, 1-0 ACC) earned its first win over a top-10 team since a 5-2 victory at eighth-ranked Virginia on March 27, 2015. This is the second straight year the Hurricanes have defeated a top-10 team at the ITA Indoors, after topping seventh-ranked Alabama on Feb. 6, 2015.
Oklahoma State (7-2), seeded sixth in the tournament, held leads of 2-0 and 3-2, but seventh-seeded Miami would not be denied. The Hurricanes won a trio of three-set singles matches to come away with the victory at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
“There is such a big difference between working hard and having the will to die on the court to win points,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “We worked hard our first two matches [at ITA Indoors, but] today we were dying for points. This is expected. The more it becomes habit, the more time we can spend coaching tennis and nothing else.”
Senior Stephanie Wagner and sophomore Wendy Zhang got Miami on the board first in doubles, dominating ninth-ranked Kelsey Laurente and Maria Alvarez, 6-2. However, the Cowgirls came out on top in the last two doubles matches.
Freshman Clara Tanielian and sophomore Sinead Lohan fought hard against No. 23 Viktoriya Lushkova and Carla Tur Mari before falling, 7-5. Sophomore Silvia Fuentes and senior Clementina Riobueno came up short against Katrina Adamovic and Vladica Babic, 6-4.
Two of the singles matches finished quickly, beginning with Riobeuno falling to No. 46 Lushkova, 6-1, 6-1. Ninth-ranked Wagner then got Miami on the board, trimming the Hurricanes’ deficit to 2-1 with a 6-1, 6-1 win against No. 27 Adamovic, marking her second top-30 win of the spring.
Seventh-ranked Lohan dropped the first set to No. 38 Babic, but then put together a comeback in dominant fashion. The Waterford, Ireland native won 12 of the final 14 games to take the match, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, and claim her third top-40 win of the spring.
After Lohan evened the match, the Cowgirls pulled back in the front with a 6-2, 6-4 victory by Tur Mari over Fuentes.
The Hurricanes needed to win both remaining matches to earn the victory and did just that. Both Tanielian and No. 80 Zhang claimed three-set triumphs to give the Hurricanes the 4-3 result.
After dropping the first set to Katarina Stresnakova, Tanielian won 12 of 13 games in the final two sets to win the match, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0. Zhang, facing No. 89 Laurente, picked up her second top-100 victory of the fall with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 triumph.
“We are a better team than we were Friday,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “The process is why coaching is great, but we need to continue moving forward.”
Miami will be back on the court Feb. 15 at 11 a.m. when it hosts No. 15 Baylor at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables, Fla.
To learn more about University of Miami women’s tennis, follow @CanesWTennis.
RESULTS
Doubles Competition
1. Stephanie Wagner/Wendy Zhang (UM) def. No. 9 Kelsey Laurente/Maria Alvarez (OS), 6-2
2. No. 23 Viktoriya Lushkova/ Carla Tur Mari (OS) def. Sinead Lohan/Clara Tanielian (UM), 7-5
3. Katrina Adamovic/Vladica Babic (OS) def. Silvia Fuentes/Clementina Riobeuno (UM), 6-4
Singles Competition
1. No. 9 Stephanie Wagner (UM) def. No. 27 Katarina Adamovic (OS) 6-1, 6-1
2. No. 7 Sinead Lohan (UM) def. No. 38 Vladica Babic (OS) 2-6, 6-2, 6-0
3. No. 46 Viktoriya Lushkova (OS) def. Clementina Riobeuno (UM) 6-1, 6-1
4. No. 80 Wendy Zhang (UM) def. No. 89 Kelsey Laurente (OS) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
5. Clara Tanielian (UM) def. Katarina Stresnakova (OS) 4-6, 6-1, 6-0
6. Carla Tur Mari (OS) def. Silvia Fuentes (UM) 2-6, 4-6
