The sixth-ranked Miami Hurricanes took five singles matches on Sunday afternoon, highlighted by Julia Cohen (No. 13) and Laura Vallverdu (No. 39) upsetting Top 5 singles players, en route to a 5-2 win over No. 9 Clemson in ACC women’s tennis play at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center in Clemson, S.C.
Head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews improved her record to 7-0 all-time against Clemson, and she expressed that it was a complete turnaround mentally for her team after a tough loss against the No. 8 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets yesterday in Atlanta, Ga.
“Each of the girls really showed up and persevered mentally after a tough loss yesterday,” stated Yaroshuk-Tews. “I thought yesterday was a well-fought match, and we just fell short. We had to turn it around in less than 24 hours and play another Top 10 program today. We just showed a lot of mental perseverance today to get the win.”
Miami (12-3, 2-1 ACC) fell behind early in the match as Clemson (8-5, 1-1 ACC) took two-of-three doubles matches for the 1-0 advantage heading into singles competition.
Clemson’s 10th-ranked doubles team of Ani Mijacika and Keri Wong downed Miami’s 32nd-ranked Michaela Kissell and Laura Vallverdu, 9-7. With Mijacika and Wong leaping to a quick 3-0 advantage in the match, Kissell and Vallverdu immediately battled back to knot the score at 3-3.
The teams would tie three more times, including a 7-7 deadlock, before the Tiger’s tandem went up 9-7 for the victory.
Miami’s Julia Cohen and Bianca Eichkorn rallied at the second slot to upset the Tigers’ 27-th ranked Josipa Bek and Ina Hadziselimovic, 8-4. The victory for the Tigers at the third spot with Estefania Balda and Alexandra Luc over UM’s Gabriela Mejia and Claudia Wasilewski was an 8-2 decision.
“Even though we didn’t get the doubles point, I thought we played really good doubles at the first and second position,” expressed Yaroshuk-Tews. “I think that really got the team focused, and they were just ready to play singles after that.”
In singles play, UM rallied the troops and collected five singles wins to take the match.
“I think this is a big win in singles today because Clemson is really good from one through six,” expressed Yaroshuk-Tews. “They’re exception at first and second singles. For all of our girls to come out and play great tennis today was phenomenal. And for us to take a win at number and two singles was huge. We then followed that up with solid play at three and four as well.”
Singles began with No. 39 Laura Vallverdu of the Hurricanes upsetting her highest-ranked opponent of the year on the strength of a 6-2, 6-2 straight-set win against Clemson’s Josipa Bek (No. 4) in the second slot. The win knotted the match at 1-1.
The Tigers stepped back out in front when Keri Wong (No. 111) collected a 6-3, 6-4 win over UM freshman Gabriela Mejia at the No. 5 singles spot.
The ‘Canes tied it up again at 2-2 when sophomore Julia Cohen (No. 13) upset the nation’s top-ranked player Ani Mijacika (No. 1) in straight-sets, 6-4, 6-1. For Cohen, it was her second consecutive win over a Top 5 player. It was her sixth consecutive singles win, and her fifth over a nationally ranked opponent.
“Julia is getting comfortable, and she’s starting to believe in herself and her game,” praised Yaroshuk-Tews. “She understands now that she has the ability to compete with a lot of players. A lot of kids don’t see her particular style of play, and it makes her a very difficult opponent to play against.”
The Hurricanes moved out in front for good when No. 40 Bianca Eichkorn claimed a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3 win over No. 117 Ina Hadziselimovic at the number four spot. That was immediately followed by Michaela Kissell (No. 63) downing Clemson’s Estefania Balda (No. 76) in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-3. For Kissell, it was her fourth win in her last five outings, and her third against a ranked opponent of the spring.
Claudia Wasilewski of UM would close-out the match on a high note as she took a three-set thriller from Laurianne Henry on a 5-7, 7-3, 10-2 line—claiming her fourth win in the last five matches as well.
“It was really an incredible team effort today,” said Yaroshuk-Tews. “I don’t think any one person stood out when I think about this win. To beat teams like Clemson we’re going to need the entire team to show up. That’s what they did today.”
The Hurricanes will get back to action on Mar. 11 when they host in-state and ACC rival Florida State at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables. The match is slated for a 2 p.m. start time, and admission is free to the public.
For more information on University of Miami Women’s Tennis, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com. After browsing to the women’s tennis home page, you will find the latest news, stats and match notes pertaining to the Hurricanes Women’s Tennis program.
