Three Canes Named to NCAA Individual Championships
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – For the third year in a row, three members of the University of Miami women’s tennis team have been selected to participate in the NCAA individual championships.
Senior Stephanie Wagner and sophomore Sinead Lohan were tabbed as NCAA Singles Championship picks for the second straight year, while Wagner and sophomore Wendy Zhang will team up in the NCAA Doubles Championship. All were at-large selections in their respective draws, as announced Wednesday by the NCAA.
Wagner, whose 132 singles win are one shy of the program record, will be the fifth Hurricane to participate in the NCAA Singles Championship four times. After advancing to the round of 32 in 2013 and 2014, last year she became the sixth Hurricane to make the semifinals. The Amberg, Germany, native is looking to be the second Miami player to post a win in four separate NCAA Singles Championships.
Lohan was one of just two freshmen in the nation to reach the NCAA Singles Championship quarterfinals last season. A native of Waterford, Ireland, Lohan is 34-5 in her sophomore campaign, including an outstanding 23-1 this spring.
Eighth-ranked Wagner, who has defeated four of the top seven seeds in the singles draw in 2015-16, including three of the top four, is seeded No. 9-16, while ninth-ranked Lohan isseeded No. 8. This is the second year in a row Wagner is seeded No. 9-16 and Lohan, who was unseeded last year, is the first Hurricane with a top-eight seed since Bianca Eichkorn in 2011.
By receiving seeded positions, both Wagner and Lohan have clinched ITA All-America honors in singles for the second consecutive season.
For Zhang, the NCAA Doubles Championship will be her first appearance in an individual NCAA event. She and Wagner are ranked No. 10 in the nation and own a team-best 16-8 record in doubles play this spring. They have posted 11 of Miami’s 13 victories over ranked doubles pairs in 2016.
Wagner is set to be the 17th Hurricane to play in multiple NCAA Doubles Championships and the 13th to make the field in consecutive years with a different partner. In 2015, Wagner paired with then-senior Lina Lileikite. The four-time All-ACC honoree is one of 24 players in both fields this year and is one of just eight seeded singles players to be chosen for the doubles draw, too.
This is the 14th year in a row Miami has at least one player in the NCAA Singles Championship, a streak that dates back to head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews’ second year directing the program. This will be the 31st time in the 35-year NCAA era at least one Hurricane is in the field and it will be the 17th time—eight have come in Yaroshuk-Tews’ tenure—that Miami will have multiple representatives. In addition, this is the first time since 1987 that two Hurricanes are seeded in singles.
Not counting withdrawals, 2016 marks the 23rd time the Hurricanes have had a duo in the NCAA Doubles Championship. Eleven of those season have come under Yaroshuk-Tews’ watch.
Miami is one of just 15 schools—six are from the ACC—with multiple players in the NCAA Singles Championship, including one of just four with two seeded players. There are 26 schools in the nation represented in both the singles and doubles draw, with just 11 of those having multiple singles players selected.
The NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships will be held at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla., from May 25-30. The tournament brackets will be announced just prior to the start of tournament play.
For more information on the University of Miami women’s tennis team, follow @CanesWTennis.
