The men’s tennis team is struggling as the regular season winds down. The Hurricanes have lost four straight matches to ACC opponents, all by the score of 7-0.
“It has been a difficult stretch for us,” Head Coach Mario Rincon told HurricaneSports.com after the team fell to North Carolina State on Sunday.
“Our team is not playing with confidence after the losses and the ACC conference is as strong as it has ever been. That’s a bad combination in this league.”
The skid began on April 3 in Tallahassee when Miami lost to No. 32 Florida State. Before the shutout at the hands of the Seminoles, the team had one of its best performances of the season in a 6-1 victory over Boston College on March 29.
Since that win over the Eagles more than two weeks ago, the Canes have failed to net a single point in any of its matches against FSU, Louisville, Wake Forest or NC State.
The Canes will finish the regular season with a losing record for the first time in three years. The team currently sits near the bottom of the ACC standings with a 7-14 overall record and an abysmal 1-9 mark in conference play.
Although the final two games of the regular season are in Coral Gables this weekend, the Hurricanes will have a tough time avoiding getting shut out again, let alone winning.
The Canes face No. 14 Virginia Tech on Friday and then No. 4 University of Virginia on Sunday to close out the season. The top two teams in the ACC have combined to win 35 matches on the year. The Cavaliers boast the No. 4 singles player in the country in junior Ryan Shane and the No. 5 doubles team with Shane joined by sophomore Luca Corinteli.
The Hurricanes play the Hokies at 2 p.m. Friday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
Featured image courtesy of Hurricane Sports