W. Tennis Bounces Back with 6-1 Win over FAU
By Kevin Ivany
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Just two hours after wrapping up a grueling back-and-forth match with top-ranked North Carolina, the University of Miami women’s tennis team returned to the Neil Schiff Tennis Center and topped Florida Atlantic, 6-1, Sunday night.
“FAU was really tough, really strong. Obviously, we were not playing on a full tank going into a match like that,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “For these kids to both fight and play the way they did, despite not playing on a full tank, just says a lot about where we are. They are working hard, they are physically getting a little uncomfortable and they are figuring things out.”
No. 27 Miami (5-4, 2-2 ACC) opened things up with senior Estela Perez-Somarriba making history alongside her freshman teammate Florencia Urrutia. The duo topped Radka Buzkova and May Kimhi, 6-2. The win marked the 200th combined singles and doubles victory of the Madrid native’s illustrious career, as the senior became just the eighth player in program history to accomplish the feat.
Moments later, No. 59 Daevenia Achong and Selma Cadar defeated Natalia Boltinskaya and Louie McLeiland, 6-3, to secure the advantageous doubles point.
Facing Martina Kudelova and Natalie Kallmunzerova on court three, freshman Diana Khodan and Maya Tahan held a 5-3 advantage when the doubles point was clinched.
In singles, the Hurricanes continued to carry momentum, taking four of the six opening sets.
In the first singles match to complete, Tahan took down Komhi, 6-1, 6-3, to place Miami in front, 2-0.
Meanwhile, competing on court four, Urrutia defeated McClelland, 6-2, 6-2, just moments before No. 72 Achong, a sophomore, clinched the match with a, 6-2, 6-4, win over Boltinskaya.
The final three matches were played out, with one going to a 10-point third-set tiebreaker.
Florida Atlantic (3-1) got on the board when Kallmunzerova topped Khodan, 6-3, 6-4.
Competing on court one, top-ranked Perez-Somarriba earned a hard-fought, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, victory over Kudelova.
In the final match to complete, No. 96 Cadar rebounded from an opening-set, 4-6, setback, as the freshman beat Buzkova, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (10-4).
“To be able to do it tonight, especially at 1, 2, 3, those kids are ball strikers. They were going after their shots, they were playing aggressive, they had us on the run,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “Credit to FAU, they are a great team this year. I think [FAU head coach] Caroline [Wheelen] has put together a really strong squad and for us to be in that situation tonight, coming off of a loss and only a two-hour a break, just says a lot about this team right now and the direction we are heading. I told the girls after the match that I will never do that to them again, they have my word [laughs]. But I do think we walked away a little bit tougher and if we walk away with that, we walk away with something important.”
Up next, the Hurricanes travel to Louisville, Ky., for a matchup Friday at 1 p.m. against Louisville.
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. 59 Daevenia Achong/Selma Cadar (UM) def. Natalia Boltinskaya/Louie McLelland (FAU), 6-3
2. Estela Perez-Somarriba/Florencia Urrutia (UM) def. Radka Buzkova/May Kimhi (FAU), 6-2
3. Diana Khodan/Maya Tahan (UM) vs. Martina Kudelova/Natalie Kallmunzerova (FAU), 5-3, unf.
Singles Competition
1. No. 1 E. Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. Martina Kudelova (FAU), 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
2. No. 72 Daevenia Achong (UM) def. Natalia Boltinskaya (FAU), 6-2, 6-4
3. No. 96 Selma Cadar (UM) def. Radka Buzkova (FAU), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (10-4)
4. Florencia Urrutia (UM) def. Louie McLelland (FAU), 6-2, 6-2
5. Maya Tahan (UM) def. May Kimhi (FAU), 6-1, 6-3
6. Natalie Kallmunzerova (FAU) def. Diana Khodan (UM), 6-3, 6-4
