Women’s Tennis
The 10th-ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team picked up its fifth consecutive victory by defeating No. 21 Pepperdine, 6-1, in non-conference action Sunday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
Miami (8-3, 1-0 ACC) opened the match by winning the doubles point for the seventh consecutive time this season. UM’s No. 21 doubles tandem of senior Melissa Applebaum and sophomore Audra Cohen topped Pepperdine’s 42nd-ranked pair of Sylvia Kosakowski and Merve Asimgil, 8-3. In court No. 3, sophomore Caren Seenauth and Patricia Starzyk climbed out of a 2-5 hole to claim an 8-6 victory over the Waves’ Lise Sissler/Natalie Braverman duo to clinch the doubles point and give Miami a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
Junior Audrey Banada got things started in singles with a 6-2, 6-2 straight set victory over Asimgil at the No. 5 position.
Pepperdine (9-2), however, got on the board when Braverman topped No. 84 Applebaum 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 3 slot.
But the Hurricanes took a 3-1 match lead when Cohen, ranked 13th in the nation, defeated No. 26 Bianca Dulgheru, 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 1 position.
The match came down to courts No. 2, 4 and 6, which were all entering the third set. Freshman Monika Dancevic clinched the match win for the Hurricanes at the No. 2 slot with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Kosakowski. Seenauth, playing No. 6 singles, followed suit with a win over Sissler 6-2, 5-6, 6-0.
Starzyk closed the match with a win over Eva Dickes at the No. 4 position. Down 6-3 in the first set, she took the second and third sets 6-4, 6-1.
The Hurricanes return to action when they travel north for a two-match ACC road swing that takes them to Maryland and Boston College. Miami will face Maryland Friday, March 10, at 3:00 p.m. before heading to Boston College the following day for a 5:00 p.m. matchup.