W. Tennis Cruises Past FGCU, 6-1
By Alex Schwartz
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Hosting its first home dual match of the season, the University of Miami women’s tennis team tallied a resounding 6-1 victory Saturday against FGCU at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
Playing for the first time in 13 days, No. 17 Miami (2-1) controlled the doubles portion of the match and carried its strong play into a impressive singles showing. The Hurricanes dropped just three sets across the nine matches.
“It was nice to be out here competing. We were pressed on some courts, so it was good to get out there and have a little adversity,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “I thought we responded well, for the most part, and we’re looking forward to playing two big matches next weekend.”
Playing their first match as ranked doubles players, junior Ana Madcur and sophomore Estela Perez-Somarriba did not drop a single game. The No. 33 duo in the nation topped Julia Ascua and Julianna Curtis, 6-0.
Sophomore Dominika Paterova and junior Daniella Roldan topped Madison Gallegos and Maja Ornberg, 6-2, to clinch the doubles point. Senior Sinead Lohan and freshman Ulyana Shirokova played out their match versus Bridget Forster and Sofia Perez, also earning a 6-2 triumph.
In her first-career spring match as a top-20 player, No. 16 Perez-Somarriba turned in a dominant 6-0, 6-2 showing against Ascua. Paterova quickly followed that with a 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Curtis to give Miami a 3-0 edge.
In the first home dual match of her young career, Shirokova clinched the match for the Hurricanes, notching a 6-4, 6-0 triumph over Patricia Villar. The remaining matches were all played out, with two going Miami’s way.
Madcur took the first six points of her second-set tiebreaker to help lock up a 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) win against Perez. Roldan came up on the short end of a hard-fought 6-7 (10-12), 5-7 affair against Gallegos.
The last match to finish featured No. 58 Lohan, competing on her birthday. After dropping the first set in just seven games, Lohan took the second, 6-4, and then dominated the third without losing a game to earn a 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory.
“I just think that she settled down. She settled into the match a little bit,” Yaroshuk-Tews said of Lohan’s birthday victory. “She started to understand the patterns and just stayed true to playing them from beginning to end. She got a little off-course there towards the end of the second set. She was able to pull it out and then stayed super disciplined during the third.”
Along with the contests that were part of the dual match, freshman Pamela Richter and junior Sharon Danquah also took the court for unofficial outings against FGCU. In doubles, the Miami pair topped Villar and Sofia Blanno, 6-2.
In their singles matches, Richter fell to Forster, 1-6, 1-6, while Danquah dropped a 0-6, 2-6 decision to Sofia Blanno.
With Saturday’s triumph, Miami moved to 4-0 all-time against FGCU and increased its overall scoring margin versus the Eagles to 25-3.
The Hurricanes return to action Feb. 17 at 11:30 a.m., when they take on No. 18 Oklahoma State in a top-20 showdown in Stillwater, Okla.
To keep up with the University of Miami women’s tennis team on social media, follow @CanesWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
RESULTS
Doubles Competition
1. No. 33 Ana Madcur/Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. Julia Ascua/Julianna Curtis (FGCU), 6-0
2. Dominika Paterova/Daniella Roldan (UM) def. Madison Gallegos/Maja Ornberg (FGCU), 6-2
3. Sinead Lohan/Ulyana Shirokova (UM) def. Bridget Forster/Sofia Perez (FGCU), 6-2
Singles Competition
1. No. 16 Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. Julia Ascua (FGCU), 6-0, 6-2
2. No. 58 Sinead Lohan (UM) def. Maja Ornberg (FGCU), 1-6, 6-4, 6-0
3. Madison Gallegos (FGCU) def. Daniella Roldan (UM), 7-6 (12-10), 7-5
4. Ana Madcur (UM) def. Sofia Perez (FGCU), 6-4, 7-6 (7-1)
5. Ulyana Shirokova (UM) def. Patricia Villar (FGCU), 6-4, 6-0
6. Dominika Paterova (UM) def. Julianna Curtis (FGCU), 6-1, 6-2
