W. Tennis Sweeps No. 35 Virginia Tech, 7-0
By Alex Schwartz
HurricaneSports.com
Match Results | Spring Stats | ACC Stats
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team notched its third shutout win of the season Friday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
No. 27 Miami (4-3, 2-1 ACC) eked out the doubles point against No. 35 Virginia Tech and cruised to straight-set wins on all six courts for a 7-0 triumph.
“We’re paying attention to details a little bit better. My expectations, obviously, are still higher, but we’re making moves in the right direction and that’s all you can ask when you have any group,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “They’re trying to implement things that I’m talking to them about—and there’s a lot of things, but that’s all I could ask . . . They kept their foot on the gas, they didn’t let up.”
All three doubles matches sat at 4-4 through eight games, but the Hurricanes took two of them to earn the opening point. First, freshmen Nada Dimovska and Maya Tahan broke at deuce for a 6-4 win over Erika Cheng and Nina Sorkin.
Virginia Tech (7-2, 0-2 ACC) evened the tally, as Elizabet Danailova and Nika Kozar edged the No. 59 duo of sophomore Daevenia Achong and freshman Selma Cadar, 7-5.
All attention turned to court one, which went into a tiebreaker to decide the opening point. Senior Estela Perez-Somarriba and freshman Florencia Urrutia took the first two points before conceding the next two, but then won the final five for a 7-6 (7-2) victory over Shene Disbergen and Natalie Novotna.
No. 72 Achong doubled Miami’s lead with the most dominant win of her career, as she picked up her first unblemished result, a 6-0, 6-0 decision against Kozar.
Urrutia tacked on the Hurricanes’ third point with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Sorkin and top-ranked Perez-Somarriba, in her first regular season outing as the No. 1 player in the country, followed suit shortly thereafter to clinch the match. The Madrid native won her first nine games and topped Novota, 6-0, 6-2.
All three remaining matches were played out, with No. 96 Cadar the first one to log a win, as she topped Danailova, 6-2, 6-2. Dimovska then registered a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Cheng to give the Hurricanes a 6-0 lead.
Tahan concluded the day by sealing the perfect 7-0 victory over the Hokies with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 result against Disbergen.
“They did a great job. They played solid tennis,” Yaroshuk-Tews said of her four freshmen in the lineup. “Selma is just playing her style of tennis; her fitness is improving every day and with the improved fitness, she’s giving herself more options on the court. Maya, I think, is just getting a little bit more comfortable every day, whether it’s in practice or a match. Flor just loves to compete; she doesn’t care if she’s playing a game to 11 or a completive match. Nada is doing her job down low. I was happy with them all today.”
The Hurricanes now have 149 shutout victories in Yaroshuk-Tews’ 19 years at the helm, including 92 since the start of the 2009 campaign. This is the first 7-0 result for the team since a home decision over Louisville on April 11, 2019.
Miami resumes play Sunday with a doubleheader, as it hosts top-ranked North Carolina at 11 a.m. and Florida Atlantic at 5 p.m.
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. Estela Perez-Somarriba/Florencia Urrutia (UM) def. Shene Disbergen/Natalie Novotna (VT), 7-6 (7-2)
2. Elizabet Danailova/Nika Kozar (VT) def. No. 59 Daevenia Achong/Selma Cadar (UM), 7-5
3. Nada Dimovska/Maya Tahan (UM) def. Erika Cheng/Nina Sorkin (VT), 6-4
Singles Competition
1. No. 1 Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. Natalie Novotna (VT), 6-0, 6-2
2. No. 72 Daevenia Achong (UM) def. Nika Kozar (VT), 6-0, 6-0
3. No. 96 Selma Cadar (UM) def. Elizavet Danailova (VT), 6-2, 6-2
4. Florencia Urrutia (UM) def. Nina Sorkin (VT), 6-2, 6-1
5. Maya Tahan (UM) def. Shene Disbergen (VT), 7-6 (7-3), 6-0
6. Nada Dimovska (UM) def. Erika Cheng (VT), 6-3, 6-2
