W. Tennis Concludes Dominant Weekend at Home
By Alex Schwartz
HurricaneSports.com
Monday Results | Sunday Recap | Saturday Recap | Spring Stats
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team turned in a spectacular performance in singles play Monday to conclude the Miami Spring Invite.
No. 23 Miami notched a 6-1 ledger against No. 10 Vanderbilt, including logging two top-35 victories, after going 1-2 in doubles against Oklahoma at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
“We’ve been talking a lot about the importance of just running down every ball, making your opponent play that extra shot. Those are match changers; it could be the decider in a 4-3 win,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “To get them to collectively understand that is not easy. We didn’t do it Saturday. We were soft, we wanted to look pretty outside. Sunday and Monday they made a change. They decided to listen and see if I knew what I was talking about. It’s unbelievable. They ran down the extra ball. We are tougher than we were coming into this tournament. All of these teams here are very solid. I was really happy with the way we played singles.”
The Hurricanes picked up one win in doubles play and it came in comeback fashion, as freshman Selma Cadar and senior Estela Perez-Somarriba rallied to beat Carmen and Ivana Corley, 7-6 (7-5).
Sophomore Daevenia Achong and freshman Maya Tahan fell to No. 27 Jasmine Asghar and Oleksandra Korashvili, 3-6, while freshman Florencia Urrutia and senior Yuna Ito dropped a 4-6 decision to Martina Capurro and Camila Romero.
“Doubles, we’ve got to be more aggressive. That will come, we have so many new kids,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “I’m just trying to figure out our teams. When you throw these kids that are used to playing two out of three sets into a one set, no-ad situation, I think they get a little freaked out. They have to get over that. Once they get over that, we’ll be fine.”
Urrutia got Miami off to a strong start in singles play, notching a quick 6-4, 6-2 victory against Anna Ross. Her classmate, Cadar, followed suit shortly thereafter, defeating Emma Kurtz, 6-4, 6-3.
Achong then recorded Miami’s third win, the first top-25 and top-60 triumph of her career. Trailing, 3-5, in a third-set tiebreaker, the Geleen, Netherlands, native won the final four points for a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5) result against No. 22 Georgia Drummy.
Third-ranked Perez-Somarriba then avenged her loss to No. 32 Christina Rosca in this same event one year ago, taking six of the final eight games for a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory. The senior now owns a win over all five players she fell to in her national championship campaign last year and has now topped 11 of the 21 players she has lost to as a collegian.
“I saw what you need to have in order to win matches like that. You need to step up in the big moments, be more physical and you need to be brave; if you don’t, they will,” Yaroshuk-Tews said of the two top-35 wins. “Today, we made the decision to do that and it worked out. Sometimes you make the decision to do that and it doesn’t work out. We have to make decisions to be brave all the time and take chances. We want to be a team that takes chances and steps up. I would rather see our girls losing the match than protecting and getting beat. That’s kind of the mentality we’re trying to get across to them.”
Ito registered Miami’s third and final straight-set decision of the day, a 6-4, 6-1 result against Amanda Meyer. Tahan then picked up the Hurricanes’ last win of the weekend, defeating Dasha Kourkina in comeback fashion, 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6).
Freshman Nada Dimovska fell just short of giving the Hurricanes an unblemished day, dropping a narrow 6-3, 3-6, 0-1 (4-10) match versus Marcella Cruz.
The Hurricanes finished the Miami Spring Invite with a 19-10 record, including a dazzling 16-4 mark in singles action. With 15 points—one for each top-six singles win and/or overall doubles win—the Hurricanes finished first in the event, while Oklahoma and Vanderbilt tied for second with 11 points and Northwestern came in fourth with five.
Miami will open dual match competition Jan. 25-26 in Tallahassee, Fla., as a part of ITA Kick-Off Weekend, first meeting No. 18 Texas A&M Saturday at 2 p.m.
To keep up with the University of Miami women’s tennis team on social media, follow @CanesWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
SUNDAY RESULTS
Doubles Competition
Selma Cadar/Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. Carmen Corley/Ivana Corley (OU), 7-6 (7-5)
No. 27 Jasmine Asghar/Oleksandra Korashvili (OU) def. Daevenia Achong/Maya Tahan (UM), 6-3
Martina Capurro/Camila Romero (OU) def. Yuna Ito/Florencia Urrutia (UM), 6-4
Hannah McColgan/Vanessa Streng (NU) def. Skyler Miller/Marcelina Podlinska (OU), 6-4
Julie Byrne/Clarissa Hand (NU) def. No. 12 Georgia Drummy/Christina Rosca (VAN), 6-1
Emma Kurtz/Anna Ross (VAN) def. Christina Hand/Inci Ogut (NU), 6-2
Dasha Kourkina/Amanda Meyer (VAN) def. Briana Crowley/Caroline Pozo (NU), 6-4
Singles Competition
No. 3 Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. No. 32 Christina Rosca (VAN), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Daevenia Achong (UM) def. No. 22 Georgia Drummy (VAN), 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5)
Selma Cadar (UM) def. Emma Kurtz (VAN), 6-4, 6-3
Florencia Urrutia (UM) def. Anna Ross (VAN), 6-4, 6-2
Maya Tahan (UM) def. Dasha Kourkina (VAN), 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6)
Yuna Ito (UM) def. Amanda Meyer (VAN), 6-4, 6-1
Marcella Cruz (VAN) def. Nada Dimovska (UM), 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-4)
No. 87 Martina Capurro (OU) def. Julie Byrne (NU), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
Marcelina Podlinska (OU) def. Inci Ogut (NU), 6-4, 6-2
Carmen Corley (OU) def. Clarissa Hand (NU), 6-3, 5-7, 6-0
Oleksandra Korashvili (OU) def. Vanessa Streng (NU), 6-3, 6-3
Camila Romero (OU) def. Caroline Pozo (NU), 3-6, 6-0, 6-2
Briana Crowley (NU) def. Ivana Corley (OU), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
Jasmine Asghar (OU) vs. Hannah McColgan (NU), 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)
Christina Hand (NU) def. Skyler Miller (OU), 6-3, 6-3
