After a quick bounce-back win in Coral Gables against in-state rival Florida State last week, No. 10 Miami took to the road once again, dominatingly beating Virginia Tech, 6-1, in Blacksburg to begin its two-game Virginia road stretch.
The Canes (10-2, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) only dropped two sets all day, moving to 25-1 versus the Hokies (5-9, 1-4 ACC) all-time.
“We were playing in some pretty windy conditions today and handled the situation the best we could,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “It was not the prettiest tennis, but these ladies got the job done.”
To open doubles play, Virginia Tech’s duo of Erika Cheng and Chhinda Som soundly beat sophomore Audrey Boch-Collins and freshman Tatyana Nikolenko, who was making her doubles debut, 6-2.
UM rallied back, taking the next two matches to secure the doubles point and go up 1-0.
No. 16 Daevenia Achong and Eden Richardson, the Hurricanes’ top-ranked pair, downed Katie Andreini and Annie Clark, 6-3. Next, third-year sophomores Diana Khodan and Maya Tahan, ranked No. 72, squeaked past Elizabet Danailova and Rita Pinto, 6-4, to clinch the point.
In singles play, every victorious Hurricane won in straight sets.
First, Khodan put UM up 2-0 with a convincing performance against Andreini, taking the match, 6-0, 6-1.
On Court 2, fifth-year senior Richardson, ranked No. 58, extended the Hurricanes’ lead, blazing past Danailova, 6-3, 6-2.
Miami’s ace, No. 56 Achong, sealed the win by comfortably topping Tamara Barad Itzhaki, 6-3, 6-3, in her first time competing as the Canes’ No. 1 singles player this season, replacing No. 58 Eden Richardson.
All remaining matches were played out.
Boch-Collins dismantled Cheng, 6-0, 6-3, to put UM up 5-0.
The Hurricanes would not secure the sweep, though, as Hokie Semra Aksu bested freshman Nikolenko in a tightly contested match, 6-3, 0-6, 6-3.
Miami ended the day on a positive note, however, as Tahan tabbed a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Dariya Radulova.
Next up, the Hurricanes continue their Virginia road slate with a top-15 matchup versus No. 11 Virginia on Sunday at 11 a.m. in Charlottesville.