W. Tennis Falls to Top-Ranked North Carolina, 6-1

By Kevin Ivany
HurricaneSports.com

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision to top-ranked North Carolina Sunday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

“The team fought hard. As crazy as it sounds, it is a 6-1 loss, but for 20 minutes or so it looked like we were getting ready to turn the tides,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “We’ve talked about us being in all different scenarios as the season goes on. I think today is just another scenario, where you are down pretty big against a great team, but you just stay out there, you fight and you try to turn the tables. And we almost did, but today it just didn’t go our way, but I have to give the kids credit for getting that close. The next step is that we have to execute when we are there.”

North Carolina (14-0, 2-0 ACC) opened doubles with No. 19 Makenna Jones and Alle Sanford topping freshmen Nada Dimovska and Maya Tahan, 6-1.

Moments later, sophomore Daevenia Achong and freshman Selma Cadar, ranked No. 59 nationally for Miami (4-4, 2-2 ACC), evened the match with a 6-2 triumph over Cameron Morra and Elizabeth Scotty.

Meanwhile, trailing 0-3 and 2-5 in their match against fourth-ranked Sara Daavettila and Alexa Graham, senior Estela Perez-Somarriba and freshman Florencia Urrutia in both instances pulled within one game, but were unable to complete the comeback, ultimately coming up short, 4-6.

In singles, the Tar Heels continued to carry momentum, taking five of the six opening sets.

Facing fourth-ranked Morra on court 3, No. 96 Cadar came up short, 3-6, 2-6, while Urrutia fell against No. 43 Jones, 1-6, 3-6, as North Carolina took the early 3-0 advantage.

On the remaining four courts, the Hurricanes battled back to force three sets in each.

In the first of the final four matches to conclude, Tahan rebounded from an opening set, 0-6, setback and claimed the second set, 6-4. The freshman then held a 3-0 advantage in the third, but was unable to hold on, as No. 39 Sanford clinched the match for UNC, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4.

The final three matches were played out, with two going to a 10-point third-set tiebreaker.

Facing fifth-ranked Graham at the top-singles position, top-ranked Perez Somarriba overcame triple set point twice, 2-5 and 4-5, to force an opening-set tiebreaker. Overall, the Madrid native claimed the set 7-6 (8-6). However, Graham claimed a hard-fought second set, 6-4, before securing the overall victory, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 1-0 (10-3).

Looking to prevent the shutout, Dimovska secured the second set over Anika Yarlagadda, 7-5, to force a third-set tiebreaker. The freshman jumped out to an early 8-3 advantage in the breaker before securing Miami’s lone point of the day, 6-7 (2-7), 7-5, 1-0 (10-7).

In the final match to conclude, No. 72 Achong battled sixth-ranked Daavettila in a back-and-forth tilt, however the sophomore came up just short, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6.

Up next, the Hurricanes will host Florida Atlantic at 5 p.m., as part of Sunday’s doubleheader.

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. 4 Sara Daavettila/Alexa Graham (NC) def. Estela Perez-Somarriba/Florencia Urrutia (UM), 6-4
2. No. 59 Daevenia Achong/Selma Cadar (UM) def. Cameron Morra/Elizabeth Scotty (NC), 6-2
3. No. 19 Makenna Jones/Alle Sanford (NC) def. Nada Dimovska/Maya Tahan (UM), 6-1
 
Singles Competition
1. No. 5 Alexa Graham (NC) def. No. 1 Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM), 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 1-0 (10-3)
2. No. 6 Sara Daavettila (NC) def. No. 72 Daevenia Achong (UM), 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4
3. No. 4 Cameron Morra (NC) def. No. 96 Selma Cadar (UM), 6-3, 6-2
4. No. 43 Makenna Jones (NC) def. Florencia Urrutia (UM), 6-1, 6-3
5. No. 39 Alle Sanford (NC) def. Maya Tahan (UM), 6-0, 4-6, 6-4
6. Nada Dimovska (UM) def. Anika Yarlagaada (NC), 6-7 (2-7), 7-5, 1-0 (10-7)