@CanesWTennis Earns 22nd Consecutive NCAA Berth
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team has received a bid to the NCAA Team Championship for the 22nd year in a row.
The Hurricanes, who have now reached the tournament 32 times in the 36-year NCAA era, earned a No. 17-32 seed and will be in Gainesville, Fla., for the opening rounds of the NCAA Team Championship. Florida, the top overall seed, is set to be the host team.
Also headed to Gainesville, are USF, seeded No. 33-48, and UMass, seeded No. 49-64. Miami will open play May 13 against USF, while Florida faces UMass. The winning teams will square off the following day in the Round of 32.
This is the first time since 2004 the Hurricanes are not hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Team Championship. That season, Miami knocked off top-seeded Florida in Gainesville, en route to the first of eight Elite Eight trips in a 10-year span.
If Miami advances and takes on the Gators, it would mark their first true road contest in NCAA Team Championship play since facing Stanford in the national title match in 2006.
Miami (12-11, 8-6 ACC), ranked No. 32 nationally, features two players in the ITA singles rankings, with junior Sinead Lohan at No. 16 and freshman Estela Perez-Somarriba at No. 34. In doubles, Lohan and redshirt senior Maci Epstein form the No. 73 duo in the country.
Florida (23-3, 11-2 SEC), the nation’s top-ranked team by the ITA, has six players in the singles rankings. The group includes No. 6 Belinda Woolcock, No. 21 Josie Kuhlman, No. 30 Ingrid Neel, No. 39 Anna Danilina, No. 51 Kourtney Keegan and No. 85 Spencer Liang. In doubles, Danilina and Neel check in at No. 11, followed by Keegan and Brooke Austin at No. 22, then by Kuhlman and Woolcock at No. 42.
Both USF (15-10, 7-2 AAC) and UMass (12-7, 4-0 A10) are unranked nationally and do not have any ranked singles players or doubles pairs.
Miami, seeking a 12th consecutive Sweet 16 appearance, is 50-31 all-time in the NCAA Team Championship. The Hurricanes have won at least one NCAA match in all 15 of head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews‘ seasons, including earning multiple victories in 12 of those seasons.
Additional information on the Hurricanes’ matches in Gainesville, including start times, will be available in the coming days.
To keep up with the University of Miami women’s tennis team on social media, follow @CanesWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
