Soriano Barrera Claims Third ACC POW Honor

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Playing in his first competitive match in 336 days, University of Miami men’s tennis senior Adria Soriano Barrera did not skip a beat in the Hurricanes’ season opener on Sunday.

Facing the nation’s 16th-ranked singles player, Soriano Barrera made quick work of UCF’s Gabriel Decamps to secure a dominating 6-2, 6-2 singles triumph.

The perfect opening weekend for Soriano Barrera solidified the senior’s third-career Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week honor and sixth accolade overall, as he also owns a trio of conference Doubles Team of the Week awards over the previous three seasons. Soriano Barrera shares the weekly honor with Georgia Tech’s Andres Martin.

Prior to a top-40 singles matchup, Soriano Barrera teamed up for the first time with graduate transfer Stefan Milicevic in doubles against No. 18 UCF’s pair of Juan Pablo Mazzuchi and Bogdan Pavel.

Tied at 4-4, the UM duo won the final two games and earned the 6-4 victory.

Following his first win of the 2021 campaign, the No. 34 singles player faced off with Decamps. Despite the Knights’ senior entering the match with a perfect 2-0 singles record on the year, including a win over No. 12 Duarte Vale of Florida, Soriano Barrera jumped out to an early 2-1 lead and never looked back.

Overall, the Barcelona, Spain, native won 10 of the final 12 games to secure Miami’s first point of the day in a back-and-forth match with the Knights.

Soriano Barrera and the Hurricanes will now travel to Tallahassee, Fla., for a pair of neutral site affairs on Saturday and Sunday, opening the weekend with a match against Auburn, before taking on Tulane.