Canes lose to Baylor

The Miami Hurricanes women’s tennis team was handed their first loss of the season this past Saturday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables.

 The competition started off with doubles play, as  No. 3 ranked Gabriela Mejia and Laura Vallverdu fell to No. 13 Lenka Broosova and Csilla Borsanyi of Baylor, 5-8.

The Bears’ Nina Secerbegovic and Karolina Filipiak defeated the ‘Canes’  Danielle Mills and Claudia Wasilewski with their relentless front court play , 9-8 to take two out of the three doubles matches earning them the game’s first overall point.

Down 1-0 heading into singles play, Miami began to rally and seemed as though they would run away with the contest.

In the second flight spot, Bianca Eichkorn, ranked No. 99 in the nation, defeated No.70 Csilla Borsanyi convincingly,  7-5, 6-0 to tie Miami up 1-1.

Next, UM’s Danielle Mills beat Karolina Filipiak in the fifth spot, 6-3, 6-4 to put Miami ahead 2-1.

After  No. 93 Gabriela Mejia defeated Baylor’s Taylor Oromond 6-4, 6-2, the ‘Canes were up 3-1 and needed just one more victory from either their ace, Laura Vallverdu, or from Anna Bartenstein or Claudia Wasilewski.

All three matches were decided in three sets, as these two top ten teams battled back and fourth.

Wasilewski was the first to fall, to BU’s Carla Lindlar, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2. Miami was still up overall 3-2, but Baylor was beginning to show signs of life, and on courts one and three, Vallverdu and Bartenstein were struggling to win just one last set that would give the Hurricanes the victory.

Vallverdu opened with a first set victory, 6-3 to No. 17 ranked Lenka Broosova, and despite having a 4-3 lead in the second set, Broosova forced a third set with her come from behind 6-4 win. In the third, and final, set Vallverdu again had a lead of 3-2, but Lenka came back once more to take the match, 6-4, and the point tying the Bear’s with the ‘Canes, 3-3.

All of the attention had now shifted towards the third court as Anna Bartenstein was in a third set of her own, with BU’s Nina Secerbegovic, only this set would determine the fate of each University.

Tied in the last set 3-3, Secerbegovic proved to be to much, as she, and subsequently the Baylor Bears came out on top, handing the University of Miami their first loss of the season 4-3.

Miami will have to re group after a heart breaking loss and  travel to the A.C. Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday, Feb. 12 to take on the No. 12 UCLA Bruins.

Andrew Dymburt may be contacted at adymburt@themiamihurricane.com.