Men’s Tennis
The University of Miami men’s tennis team fell 7-0 to No.1-ranked Illinois Sunday in Champaign, Ill.
Despite the loss, the Hurricanes received extraordinary play from doubles pairing Andrew Golub and Colin Purcell that defeated the No. 2-ranked doubles team Amer Delic and Michael Calkins 9-8 (4).
The loss was the second straight for the No. 32-ranked Hurricanes. With the defeat, UM fell to 5-3 on the season.
In singles play, Colin Purcell (Louisville, Ky.) put up the toughest fight for the Hurricanes, pushing No. 60 Ryler DeHeart to three sets (6-4, 1-6, 6-3).
The loss comes one day after the ‘Canes were dealt a mild upset Saturday when it lost 4-3 to No. 42 Indiana.
Coach Bryan Getz said that while the two teams were evenly matched in terms of talent and skill, the Hoosiers came to the court with more “mental toughness” than the Hurricanes.
Getz also noted that the young UM squad struggled to adjust to playing indoors, but added “that’s no excuse.”
UM took the doubles point as Golub and Purcell defeated Viktor Libal and Petr Novotny 8-6 and Todd Widom and Eric Hechtman defeated John Stone and Jakub Praibis 9-7.
In singles play, however, the Hurricanes were unable to counter Indiana’s resolve.
“We were fortunate to get the doubles point, but then we came out flat in singles,” Getz said.
Miami won two singles matches. At first singles, No. 18-ranked Widom defeated Praibis 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and, in fourth singles, Hechtman beat Ryan Recht 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
The Hurricanes’ next home match will be Thursday, March 6 when they host Georgia Tech at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on the Coral Gables Campus.
Swimming and Diving
University of Miami In addition to finishing among the top teams in the conference at the Big East Championships, two swimmers set new school records.
Last season, Hurricane standout and Big East Swimmer of the Year Manon Van Rooijen set new Big East Championships records in both the 200 and 100-freestyle events.
This season, Van Rooijen defended both of her Big East titles and improved on her time in the 200 free, racing to a 1:46.44 finish, setting a new championship record as well as one for the University of Miami.
Senior swimmer Elaine Schwartz, who produced an outstanding championship performance with two top-five finishes, set a new school record in the 400 IM. She placed third in the event with a time of 4:17.02.
The record in the 400 IM was previously held by Kristal Tellegen, formerly a standout swimmer and also a coach for the Hurricanes.
Van Rooijen holds records in both the 100 and 200-freestyle events at UM.