Tennis team completes final match with victory

In the final match of the 2015 season, the Miami Hurricanes women’s tennis team handed Pittsburgh a 7-0 shutout at home to seal in a stellar year.

Seniors Monique Albuquerque and Lina Lileikite were honored at the start of the match with flowers and awards before defeating both of their opponents in straight sets.

“Trustworthy, mature, hardworking,” Head Coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said of Albuquerque and Lileikite. “These kids have put in a lot of hard work, lot of time, lot of sweat, lot of tears and have really grown up along the way. So, they’ve been a lot of fun to be around and a lot of fun to have on our team.”

Lileikite also made quick work of her doubles opponents with teammate and freshman Wendy Zhang. They won 8-4, which was shortly followed by freshman Sinead Lohan and junior Stephanie Wagner’s 8-3 win.

In singles play, No. 115 Lileikite defeated Callie Frey 6-3, 6-2 and Albuquerque took down her opponent, 6-1, 6-2. Just one minute later, junior Clementina Riobueno, doubles partner of Albuquerque, won her match to clinch the 7-0 shutout.

“Whenever you win a match 7-0, you’re happy,” Yaroshuk-Tews told HurricaneSports. “I think the girls played well today, but I think that our best tennis is still in front of us.”

This statement win leads a four-match win streak into the postseason, which is the second-longest win streak of the Hurricanes’ season – they started 2015 with six straight wins.

Four of Miami’s six singles players are ranked, led by No. 8 Wagner, and two doubles squads are ranked as well.

As the regular season comes to a close, Miami ends with an impressive final record of 13-3 and 12-2 for the conference. Miami’s only conference losses were to Virginia Tech and North Carolina, who is ranked No. 1.

In possession of second place in the ACC, the Hurricanes will travel to the ACC Tournament, their next challenge with a double-bye as the No. 2 seed behind North Carolina.

The Hurricanes will participate in the ACC Tournament this week in Cary, North Carolina.