Blue Devils win rematch 4-1, end Miami’s season

The rematch was set.

After losing 4-3 to No. 3 Duke in the ACC Championship on April 19, No. 6 Miami kept an eye on the NCAA bracket for a potential matchip against the Blue Devils in the quarterfinals.

Unfortunately for the Hurricanes (26-5), the wait didn’t lead to revenge as Duke (27-3) cruised 4-1 and won its 16th consecutive match Sunday afternoon after a rain delay at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas.

Three of Miami’s four nationally-ranked singles players dropped their matches, and the women’s tennis team also lost the doubles point.

“I was very confident going into the singles,” head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “I don’t believe that there are too many teams that still can beat us in singles, but like I told the girls, as this tournament progresses, the doubles point is going to become more important.”

UM fell to 3-5 against teams ranked in the Top 10 this season. The loss was just the team’s second in its past 17 matches, both of which have come at the “racket” of Duke.

“There is not a whole lot to say, other than they just simply out played us today,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “We didn’t play our best tennis, but Duke had a lot to do with that. They did not give us anything; they definitely played a clean match.”

Singles
1. #6 Mallory Cecil (DU) def. #3 Julia Cohen (UM) 6-2, 6-1
2. #24 Laura Vallverdu def. #37 Ellah Nze (DU) 6-3, 6-3
3. #30 Reka Zsilinszka (DU) def. #31 Bianca Eichkorn (UM) 6-4, 6-2
4. #91 Amanda Granson (DU) def. #49 Michaela Kissell (UM) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
5. #122 Melissa Mang (DU) vs. Gabriela Mejia (UM) 6-2, 3-6 DNF
6. Jessi Robinson (DU) vs. Claudia Wasilewski (UM) 4-6, 6-3, 0-3 DNF

Doubles competition
1. #22 Granson/Mang (DU) def. #19 Kissell/Vallverdu (UM) 8-4
2. #51 Cohen/Eichkorn (UM) def. #53 Robinson/Cecil (DU) 8-1
3. Zsilinszka/Nze (DU) def. Mejia/Wasilewski (UM) 8-6