W. Tennis Falls, 5-2, at No. 20 Florida State
By Kevin Ivany
HurricaneSports.com
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Despite earning the doubles point, the University of Miami women’s tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision Saturday afternoon at No. 20 Florida State.
No. 15 Miami (6-2, 0-1) had won 12 of its last 14 matches against the Seminoles before Saturday and had not lost on the road at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center since March 3, 2008, also when Florida State (7-1, 0-1 ACC) was ranked No. 20. The Hurricanes’ all-time mark against the Seminoles now stands at 35-7.
“Florida State played a solid match against us today and we didn’t respond well to having our weaknesses exposed,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said.
Miami got on the board first in doubles with a dominant display from junior Estela Perez-Somarriba and sophomore Ulyana Shirokova in just their second match together. The duo rolled to a 6-0 victory over Andrea Garcia and Julia Mikulski to begin the day.
Florida State (7-1, 1-0 ACC) countered with a 6-3 win from Ariana Rahmanparast and Carla Touly over senior Ana Madcur and freshman Lucia Marzal to level the doubles tally.
All eyes then turned to Court 1, where Ana Oparenovic and Emmanuelle Salas held against freshman Daevenia Achong and senior Daniella Roldan to cut the Seminoles’ deficit to 4-5. However, Miami quickly regrouped and held at love with Achong serving to notch a 6-4 victory and put the Hurricanes ahead, 1-0.
In singles play, Florida State got things rolling winning five of six opening sets before play was halted due to weather. Following a 70-minute delay, action resumed with the match moving indoors.
Heading into the delay trailing 1-6, 1-5, Shirokova quickly won back-to-back games when play resumed. However, Nandini Das was able to secure the victory, 6-1, 6-3, to even the overall match at 1-1.
Moments later, the Seminoles doubled their lead when Rahmanparast rattled off four straight games to top freshman Carla Girbau, 6-2, 6-3.
No. 49 Touly then topped Achong, 6-4, 6-2 and No. 110 Salas defeated Ito, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, to secure the victory for Florida State.
With the match already clinched, Andrea Garcia tacked on the fifth point for the Seminoles by posting a 6-4, 6-4 win over Marzal.
Fourth-ranked Perez-Somarriba earned Miami’s lone singles victory, cruising past No. 103 Oparenovic, 7-5, 6-3, at the top position. The contest was a rematch of the 2017 NCAA Singles Championship Round of 64, when Perez-Somarriba posted a three-set win over Oparenovic, who was then at Arkansas.
Miami is back in action Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center, as it hosts fourth-ranked Duke in its ACC home opener.
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. Daevenia Achong/Daniella Roldan (UM) def. Ana Oparenovic/Emmanuelle Salas (FS), 6-4
2. Estela Perez-Somarriba/Ulyana Shirokova (UM) def. Andrea Garcia/Julia Mikulski (FS), 6-0
3. Ariana Rahmanparast/Carla Touly (FS) def. Ana Madcur/Lucia Marzal (UM), 6-3
Singles Competition
1. No. 4 Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. No. 103 Ana Oparenovic (FS), 7-5, 6-3
2. No. 49 Carla Touly (FS) def. Daevenia Achong (UM), 6-4, 6-2
3. No. 110 Emmanuelle Salas (FS) def. Yuna Ito (UM), 7-6 (7-4, 6-1
4. Nandini Das (FS) def. Ulyana Shirokova (UM), 6-1, 6-3
5. Ariana Rahmanparast (FS) def. Carla Girbau (UM), 6-2, 6-3
6. Andrea Garcia (FS) def. Lucia Marzal (UM), 6-4, 6-4
