No. 10 Canes Overwhelm UNF Before Facing Clemson Sunday
March 3, 2012
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The 10th-ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team improved their record to 6-1 Saturday with a shutout performance over the UNF Ospreys at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
The match featured a few lineup changes for the Hurricanes, one of them moving Gabriela Mejia to the No. 1 singles position and Anna Bartenstein taking over No.2 duties.
“Gabriela deserves a look at No. 1,” said coach Yaroshuk-Tews. “She’s 25th in the country, has been having a great year, and has been playing great tennis. Both her and Anna are our senior leaders and we have to spread the love around at the top position because its not about individuals its about team.”
The Hurricanes secured the first point of the match in doubles play, taking two of three matches. The No. 3 tandem of Anna Bartenstein and Brittany Dubins took an 8-5 victory to start things out, and were shortly followed by Gabriela Mejia and Lina Lilekite with an 8-5 win at No. 2.
When singles play got underway, Melissa Bolivar made short work of Simon Weyman at the No. 5 position with a 6-0, 6-3 win. Freshman Liat Zimmerman followed that up with a 6-2, 6-1 victory of her own at No. 4 to increase UM’s lead to 3-0. Freshman Lina Lilekite then clinched the match, besting Danielle Day at No. 3 6-3, 6-1.
With the match decided, No. 2 Anna Bartenstein, No. 1 Gabriela Mejia and No. 6 Brittany Dubins would all win their singles matches in two sets, to keep the Ospreys off the scoreboard for the day.
Audra Cohen, a former UM standout and National Champion under Coach Yaroshuk-Tews, is currently the head coach of the Ospreys.
“It makes me proud that she’s put together a great team and that she’s been successful and I really think she’s doing a great job with her program,” said Yaroshuk-Tews. “As a coach it’s just great to see that.”
The Hurricanes will be back on the courts tomorrow at 10:30 a.m, when they resume conference play against 34th-ranked Clemson. The match will be the first of seven consecutive outings against opponents currently ranked in the top-75.
