Canes handle Wolverines 6-1

Tenth-ranked Miami cruised past No. 18 Michigan in a 6-1 victory Thursday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

The Wolverines (5-3) won the doubles point with wins in the first and third positions, including 21st-ranked tandem junior Tania Mahtani and senior Chisako Sugiyama’s 8-4 decision over sophomore Julia Cohen and junior Laura Vallverdu.

After sophomore Michaela Kissell and freshman Gabriela Mejia won 8-6 in the second slot, junior Claudia Wasilewski and sophomore Bianca Eichkorn battled back from an early 6-2 deficit but fell 9-8.

“Losing the doubles point is getting old,” head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “Our goal is to get that doubles point and really put the pressure on our opponents to try and beat us four-out-of-six in singles. And with the team we have, and the way we’re playing, I think that’s going to be tough for a lot of people if we continue to play like we are in singles.”

In singles competition, Cohen (No. 20) fell behind 2-0 in the opening set yet turned things around for a 6-3, 6-1 win in the first position.

“My game is mostly just running down a lot of shots and I thought I didn’t miss that much and I moved really well today,” Cohen said.

Kissell (No. 60) handled her opponent in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0, Mejia won her fourth-straight match and Vallverdu clinched the team victory with a 7-5, 6-2 win. Eichkorn (No. 51), who played in the third slot, won 6-4, 6-1 and stretched her win streak to five. Wasilewski kept the Hurricanes perfect in singles play in a three-set affair, 4-6, 6-3, 10-4.

“We switched Michaela and Bianca today, but I told them at the beginning of the year ‘if they worked hard and showed hard work, then they’d both get some time at No. 3 [singles],’ and we felt Bianca earned that chance today,” Yaroshuk-Tews said.

Miami hosts Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Boston College (3-2) next Thursday at 10 a.m. at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

“Overall, it was another good win for us against another ranked opponent, and I thought the girls showed a lot of heart out there today,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “We are going to take a few days off to get away from the court, and then get back to it on Monday. I think the time away will help all of us right now after a tough stretch of matches the last few weeks.”