The No. 11 Hurricanes dropped their first two matches of the season at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship held in Wisconsin over the weekend. After losing 4-2 to No. 12 Michigan on Friday and 4-3 to No. 17 Texas Tech on Saturday, Miami secured a 4-3 win against No. 10 Oklahoma State on Sunday to close out the tournament.
Miami played in the 16-team tournament for the 12th consecutive year. The Canes got off to a rough start against the Wolverines on Friday with the duo of senior Stephanie Wagner and sophomore Wendy Zhang dropping the first doubles match, 6-1. Michigan clinched the doubles point shortly after, but Miami pulled ahead by winning the first two singles matches.
The lead was short-lived. Wagner, the No. 9-ranked player in the country, lost her singles match to No. 19 Brienne Minor in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Michigan sealed the victory with No. 17 Ronit Yurovsky’s three-set win over sophomore Sinead Lohan, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The Canes then lost to Texas Tech on Saturday after having a chance to win the match up 3-1. Zhang led 5-2 in the second set and had a match point against Sabrina Federici, but the former No. 1 junior in Great Britain rallied back to defeat Zhang. Texas Tech’s Sarah Dvorak downed senior Clementina Riobueno in a three-set battle, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-4, for the 4-3 victory.
Miami (4-2, 1-0) bounced back to take a close match against Oklahoma State on Sunday. Wagner and Zhang started the day by beating the No. 9 doubles pair of Maria Alvarez and Kelsey Laurente, 6-2. Oklahoma State won the next two doubles matches for the doubles point, but Miami excelled in singles play.
Wagner dominated No. 27 Katarina Adamovic, 6-1, 6-1, in her singles match. Lohan, the No. 7-ranked player in the country, then came back after the dropping first set beating No. 38 Vladica Babic, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. Zhang clinched the victory for Miami by taking down Laurente in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, in the final singles match.
The Canes next play Baylor at 11 a.m. on Feb. 15 at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.