CORAL GABLES, Fla. – A long layoff from anything you love is always difficult.

Due to COVID-19 shortening the 2020 spring season and canceling the ensuing fall season, the University of Miami women’s tennis team went almost 11 months without a match.

Until Saturday.

Five days ago, the Hurricanes finally returned to action, posting a 6-1 road win over Florida Atlantic at the FAU Tennis Complex in Boca Raton, Fla.

“It was amazing to be back with everybody on the team, competing,” redshirt senior Estela Perez-Somarriba said. “We’re tennis players; we’ve been competing in tennis matches and competitions since we were eight, nine years old. So, definitely, competition is something that is within us. I think all of us love winning, no matter the circumstances.”

The 2019 NCAA singles champion—and still the title-holder—Perez-Somarriba started her fifth and final collegiate season in splendid fashion. After a commanding doubles win, she rolled to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Martina Kudelova in singles play.

It marked the 142nd singles triumph of her illustrious career, tying Duke’s Reka Zsilinszka for fifth place on the ACC’s all-time list and extending her lead atop Miami’s career leaderboard.

However, beyond the joy of winning and addition of another tally to her total, Perez-Somarriba was simply happy to have a sense of normalcy back in playing a tennis match.

“When we finished, I told Julia [Rapicavoli], our trainer, I was like, ‘This is the dual match that I’ve enjoyed the most in a long time,’” Perez-Somarriba shared. “Just being out there with everybody, it was amazing.”

Finishing her match so quickly gave Perez-Somarriba the chance to watch some of her teammates in action and one in particular made quite the impression.

Freshman Isabella Pfenning cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 decision over Louie McLelland in the first singles outing of her career. The match came just weeks after she arrived in Coral Gables from her hometown of Gauting, Germany.

“I really liked Bella’s performance. She took care of business. She made it look very easy,” Perez-Somarriba said. “When you’re a freshman you don’t understand very well what’s going on, but I think she did a very good job. She’s understanding very quickly how college tennis works and this is definitely going to help her going forward in the next years. So, she just needs to keep doing what she’s doing. I think everybody is very happy to have her on the team.”

Although she is the lone new player on the team, Pfenning was not the only Hurricane to make a debut last weekend. Additionally, associate head coach Alex Santos officially started his second stint at The U.

The former head coach at Pittsburgh, Santos previously worked for Paige Yaroshuk-Tews in Coral Gables from 2009-13.

It has only been about eight weeks since Santos returned to South Florida, but he is already making his impact on this batch of Hurricanes.

“Honestly, I love having Alex around. I think he’s giving each of us advice every day, little things to focus on each day. He loves tennis. He sees tennis from a different perspective,” Perez-Somarriba said. “When you think that you are doing things very well, he goes to your court and he’s like, ‘Listen, you got to do this better. You got to do this.’ And all of a sudden you’re like, ‘He’s totally right.’

“He’s able to always take it to the next level,” Perez-Somarriba continued. “That’s great for our tennis and for our confidence, on the court and off the court. I think between Paige, Alex and Maci [Epstein], we couldn’t ask for a better coaching staff.”

The next stop for Perez-Somarriba, Pfennig, Santos and the rest of the Hurricanes is Nashville, Tenn. There, Miami is set to play two matches in as many days against top-25 opponents from the SEC.

First up is a neutral-site affair against No. 23 Ole Miss Friday at 1 p.m. ET at the Currey Tennis Center. The following day, the Hurricanes square off with No. 15 Vanderbilt at 11:30 a.m. ET on the Commodores’ home court.

Perez-Somarriba, who has more collegiate experience than all of her teammates combined, knows Miami will need to be ready from the get-go on both days against such quality foes.

“Well, I just think that the difference between the good teams and the great teams is that the best teams just go out there right out of the gates and they just start basically coming at you very hard from the beginning,” the four-time ITA All-America shared. “They don’t give you the opportunity to start off slow and you got to be on point from the beginning. I remember my first dual matches and I think everybody just needs to expect [to have to] fight. They need to expect very good tennis. They need to expect women that are willing to give their best on the court in order to get the ‘W.’

“I think that we have the talent. We’ve been working very, very hard in practice,” Perez-Somarriba added. “So, we’re definitely moving in the right direction and we’ve just got to fight. We just got to figure things out and be willing to make little changes throughout the matches, be coachable, be accountable with the rest of the team and just take care of business on our courts. If that happens, we’re going to be fine and successful.”

One other element of this trip the Hurricanes will need to deal with is the quick turnaround between their two matches.

Miami will have under 24 hours between its two outings and it is imperative the players do all that is necessary to be physically ready when they take the court for the second affair.

“I think the recovery is key,” Perez-Somarriba said. “We need to understand that our bodies go through a lot and just being aware of that is very important. I just think that … the mindset needs to be on point.”

One positive aspect of this weekend the two-time ACC Player of the Year is looking forward to is the opportunity to bond with her teammates.

Due to COVID-19 protocols, last weekend against Florida Atlantic was the first time Miami spent time together as a full group away from the Neil Schiff Tennis Center, but it was just for several hours.

This road trip will last much longer and feature ample chances for the Hurricanes to get even closer as a group, especially with six of eight players in either their first or second year at The U.

“Spending time together is crucial for our team to keep developing and improving. When you’re out there and you know how hard your teammates have been working, that makes it even more special,” Perez-Somarriba said. “That’s one of the best things that college has—competing next to your teammates and just knowing what they’ve been through and what you’ve been through together. That definitely helps to bring the fight. I think it’s going to be great for us to spend time together in order to get to know one another. At the end of the day, we are a family and spending time together is just great for us.”

The Rebels head into Friday’s match at 1-1 on the season after splitting their ITA Kick-Off Weekend matches in Chapel Hill, N.C. They notched a 4-2 win over Old Dominion and then fell to top-ranked North Carolina, 4-1.

Ole Miss has one ranked singles player in Sabina Machalova, who checks in at No. 39 in the country, as well as two ranked doubles pairs. Machalova and Bortles hold the No. 24 spot, while Tereza Janatova and Anna Vrbenska place No. 44.

Miami is 10-3 all-time against Ole Miss, including 5-1 at neutral sites. In the most recent meeting, the Hurricanes earned a 4-3 home win on May 9, 2015, in the NCAA Team Championship Round of 32.

The Commodores are 3-0 in 2021, owning 7-0 wins against Western Kentucky and at Middle Tennessee State, as well as a 6-1 triumph versus Memphis.

Christina Rosca is the lone ranked singles player for Vanderbilt, which does not have any pairs in the ITA doubles rankings.

The Hurricanes sport a 2-3 all-time ledger versus the Commodores and dropped their lone road tilt in the series. That came last year, in the most recent contest, when Vanderbilt earned a 4-1 victory on Feb. 8, 2020.

Miami heads into the weekend with a trio of ranked singles players—Perez-Somarriba is second nationally, followed by junior Daevenia Achong at No. 87 and sophomore Selma Cadar at No. 102—and no ranked doubles duos.

Live stats for Miami’s outing against Ole Miss will be available HERE, while live stats for the matchup with Vanderbilt can be found HERE.

To keep up with the University of Miami women’s tennis team on social media, follow @CanesWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.