W. Tennis Rolls Past Clemson, 6-1
By Alex Schwartz
HurricaneSports.com
Match Results | Spring Stats | ACC Stats
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team recorded an impressive 6-1 victory over Clemson Friday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
Freshman Daevenia Achong helped lead the way for No. 29 Miami (12-5, 5-4 ACC) with a top-five win in doubles and a ranked triumph in singles, while junior Estela Perez-Somarriba tallied yet another milestone victory.
“I think our tennis was kind of phasing in and out, but emotionally, we stayed calm on most of the courts, which I think the girls have to be happy about,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “I don’t think that they’re going to say that they played great tennis today, but I think that they played smart tennis and stayed emotionally engaged, which is something we’ve been talking about.”
Miami struck first in doubles play, as junior Yuna Ito and senior Ana Madcur, in their first appearance together, earned a 6-2 triumph over Laura Marti and Tate Schroeder.
Moments later, Clemson (8-11, 2-7 ACC) leveled the doubles tally, as Ally Miller-Krasilnikov and Sydney Riley defeated Perez-Somarriba and sophomore Ulyana Shirokova, 6-3.
All eyes then turned to the ranked matchup on Court 1, where Miami’s duo of Achong and senior Daniella Roldan had just rallied from a 15-40 deficit to hold and take a 5-3 lead. The No. 34-ranked duo in the country then broke to close out their impressive 6-3 victory over fourth-ranked Fernanda Navarro and Marie Alexandre-Leduc.
Achong and Roldan won the final four games of the match after dropping three of the first five. The decision was the first for a Hurricane doubles pair over a top-10 foe since April 23, 2016.
“I think they started off just awful and, again, were able to stay calm and were able to see the big picture. They made a few changes,” Yaroshuk-Tews said of Achong and Roldan. “Sometimes when you play these top teams you think you have to blow them off the court with power and actually, a lot of the times that’s not what you have to do. You have to play them with variety and then look to get your ball. They were able to do that, with their serves especially.”
Second-ranked Perez-Somarriba opened singles play with a milestone victory to double Miami’s lead. The Madrid native took each of the final 11 games against Navarro to log a 6-3, 6-0 result and become the 20th player in program history to reach 150 combined wins in singles and doubles play.
Madcur followed shortly thereafter with a resounding 6-2, 6-1 triumph against Marti to give the Hurricanes a 3-0 edge.
Ito then finished off a straight-set decision of her own to clinch the overall match, defeating Miller-Krasilnikov, 6-4, 6-4.
Shirokova tacked on Miami’s fifth point of the afternoon by downing Schroeder, 7-5, 6-1. The Ufa, Russia, native took nine of the contest’s last 10 games after dropping five of the first nine.
Achong registered the Hurricanes’ final point by tallying the second ranked decision of her young career, she edged No. 125 Leduc, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
“I think that’s a big win for Daev. [Leduc has been mainly at the number] one position for two years, so for Daev as a freshman to come away with that win, I’m pretty happy,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “She was pretty solid, but from what I saw today at one through four, everybody was pretty solid.”
In the last match of the day, Clemson earned its lone point, as Riley narrowly defeated freshman Lucia Marzal, 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8).
Friday’s win marked the 19th in a row for the Hurricanes against Clemson, as Miami moved to 31-4 in the all-time series.
The Hurricanes will cap their two-match weekend homestand by hosting No. 14 Wake Forest Sunday at noon.
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. 34 Daevenia Achong/Daniella Roldan (UM) def. No. 4 Fernanda Navarro/Marie-Alexandre Leduc (CU), 6-3
2. Ally Miller-Krasilnikov/Sydney Riley (CU) def. Estela Perez-Somarriba/Ulyana Shirokova (UM), 6-3
3. Yuna Ito/Ana Madcur (UM) def. Laura Marti/Tate Schroeder (CU), 6-2
Singles Competition
1. No. 2 Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. Fernanda Navarro (CU), 6-3, 6-0
2. Daevenia Achong (UM) def. No. 125 Marie-Alexandre Leduc (CU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
3. Yuna Ito (UM) def. Ally Miller-Krasilnikov (CU), 6-4, 6-4
4. Sydney Riley (CU) def. Lucia Marzal (UM), 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)
5. Ulyana Shirokova (UM) def. Tate Schroeder (CU), 7-5, 6-1
6. Ana Madcur (UM) def. Laura Marti (CU), 6-2, 6-1
