Women’s tennis scores breakthrough wins

The Miami women’s tennis team survived a washout weekend with multiple rain delays, but was barely distracted as they showered constant wins over their opponents. Hosting Pittsburgh, Baylor, Auburn, University of South Florida (USF) and University of North Florida (UNF) at the Miami Fall Invite, the Hurricanes found themselves doing so well in the brackets, that they were forced to play each other in the multiple rounds.

Seniors Stephanie Wagner and Lina Lileikite upset top ten-ranked teams in back-to-back matches, the second of which a major 8-5 finals win against No. 3-ranked teammates and opponents, Monique Albuquerque and Clementina Riobueno. This came after their semifinal win against No. 6-ranked Emily Flickinger and Pleun Burgmans of Auburn, 8-5.

In other doubles news, freshmen squad Silvia Fuentes and Judith Bohnenkamp fell 8-3 in their partnership debut—a loss that was much closer than the score implies. They then fell 8-6 in the third-place match to Laura Argente and Hailey Grillo of USF.

All in all, the Canes walked away with the first and second place in doubles, and fourth-place freshman duo of Wendy Zhang and Sinead Lohan allowed Miami to represent three of the final four teams in the finals brackets.

On the singles sign, No. 18-ranked Wagner showed no signs of stopping by taking three straight-set matches in a row, including a 6-3, 6-1 win over teammate Riobueno. This came after Riobueno’s arduous 6-4, 6-7 and 6-4 win over Flickinger.

No. 111-ranked Albuquerque cruised through her first round to be met with difficulty in the quarterfinals. After starting down 4-0 in the first set against Olga Martinez of USF, she pushed forward to win the set and the match, 7-5, 6-2.

Lileikite pulled out two major singles wins. After an easy straight-set victory, she went up against 36-ranked Burgmans. Following a tense 7-5 win in the first set, she confirmed her dominant weekend by snagging a 6-4 win in the second.

Finally, Zhang finished off her second collegiate tournament with two impressive, back-to-back straight-set triumphs. Seven of the eight Miami players won their first-round matches in the singles brackets, and three went on to perform in the finals of the two brackets.

The Hurricanes will travel to Pasadena, California this weekend for the ITA Women’s All-American Championships.