The No. 10 Miami women’s tennis team swept the Florida Atlantic Owls 7-0 Tuesday to win its 16th-straight home match of the season.
The match against Florida Atlantic (0-1) was scheduled to be the season opener on Jan. 28 but was postponed due to bad weather.
The ‘Canes, now 3-2 on the season, won all their doubles matches to earn the doubles point. Senior Megan Bradley and freshman Juliette Mavroleon met the Owls’ Alena Dvorakova and Elodie Wendling and defeated them 8-0. Bradley, the No. 2 ranked player in the country, typically plays with sophomore Audrey Banada, but the change in partners didn’t seem to hurt either player’s game.
“We did well for never practicing together,” Bradley said.
Senior Staci Stevens and freshman Patricia Starzyk defeated FAU’s Veronika Koksova and Claudia Kecht 8-1 and junior Melissa Applebaum and freshman Caren Seenauth beat the Owls’ Krystel Borg and Katherine Bartnik 8-0 to complete the doubles sweep.
The ‘Canes also won all of the singles matches, six out of seven coming in straight sets. Bradley handily defeated Dvorakova, 6-1, 6-2, but she admitted to having focus lapses.
“She was a tough player,” she said. “But there were no complaints.”
In other singles action, Banada defeated Borg, 6-1, 6-1, while Sophomore Emily Mowery overcame Kecht 6-1, 6-2. Seenauth, in her singles debut, beat Bartnik, 6-3, 6-0.
Starzyk, an Austrian native and the only international ‘Canes player, defeated Wendling 6-0, 6-3. Although she said she felt the team was doing well, Starzyk was not happy with her performance.
“It was difficult to play against her,” Starzyk said. “I didn’t find my rhythm.”
In what proved to be the toughest and longest match of the evening, Stevens battled back after losing the first set and defeated Koksova, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (7).
“The girls played well,” said Head Coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews. “They are each working on improving something specific. Knock on wood, they’ll stay healthy.”
The Hurricanes continue undefeated all-time against the Owls, with a 21-0 record.
The women’s team was ranked 10th in the Feb. 8 ITA poll. It is the first time the team has been ranked in the Top 10 since the 1988 season, when it was also 10th.
The ‘Canes’ next opponent will be cross-town rival Florida International at 1 p.m. today at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
Patricia Mazzei can be contacted at pmazzei@miami.edu.