ORLANDO, Fla. –The surging Longwood women's tennis team saved its toughest test of the season for the finale of its three-match spring break road trip, falling 4-0 at No. 42 Miami Friday afternoon at the USTA National Campus.
The Hurricanes (6-3), whose lineup boasts the No. 18 and No. 108-ranked singles players in the nation, snapped Longwood's two-match win streak and stymied what had been the Lancers' best start to a season since opening the 2003-04 campaign 4-2. The win was also the fourth straight for Miami, which remains one of only four undefeated teams in the 14-team Atlantic Coast Conference.
Led by the nation's 18th-ranked singles player Estella Perez-Somarriba, Miami entered the matchup as Longwood's highest-ranked opponent this season and flexed its high-major pedigree by winning the doubles point and taking singles wins at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 slots to clinch the match.
Perez-Somarriba led that charge from the top, picking up a singles win against Longwood No. 1
Marija Venta 6-1, 6-0 to extend her singles record to a perfect 11-0 this season. Venta entered the top-flight showdown on a two-match win streak and picked up a game in the first set, but could not break through against the Hurricane sophomore and became Perez-Somarriba's ninth straight-sets victim this spring.
Miami No. 2 Sinead Lohan, the 108th-ranked singles player in the country, clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Lancer freshman
Yulia Almiron. Almiron also teamed with
Kaori Terunuma in doubles play to take a game from Miami's No. 2 duo of Dominika Paterova and Ulyana Shirokova.
Following Lohan's singles win, the remaining three singles matches concluded as unfinished. Lancer sophomore
Jamie Breunig picked up a 6-4 first-set win over Ana Madcur, and freshman
Tanja Skalda won the first set of her No. 6 matchup against Pamela Richter 6-4 before both their matches concluded prematurely.
The loss brings to a close a grueling 10-day stretch for the Lancers, who have played six matches – all on the road – during that span. Longwood will play one final road matchup this Tuesday, March 13, at UNCG before returning to Farmville for the home opener against Big South rival Winthrop the following Thursday at 2 p.m. That will be the first of three straight home matches for the Lancers, who also host Radford and North Carolina A&T the following Friday and Saturday.
#42 Miami 4, Longwood 0
Mar 09, 2018 at Orlando, Fla. (USTA National Campus)
Singles competition
1. #18 E. Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. VENTA, Marija (LWUW) 6-1, 6-0
2. #108 Sinead Lohan (UM) def. ALMIRON, Yulia (LWUW) 6-2, 6-1
3. Ana Madcur (UM) vs. BREUNIG, Jamie (LWUW) 4-6, unfinished
4. Daniella Roldan (UM) vs. TERUNUMA, Kaori (LWUW) 6-0, 5-1, unfinished
5. Ulyana Shirokova (UM) def. CANDIOTTO, Julia (LWUW) 6-0, 6-0
6. Pamela Richter (UM) vs. SKALDA, Tanja (LWUW) 4-6, 2-0, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. E. Perez-Somarriba/Daniella Roldan (UM) vs. BREUNIG, Jamie/VENTA, Marija (LWUW) 5-1, unfinished
2. Dominika Paterova/Ulyana Shirokova (UM) def. ALMIRON, Yulia/TERUNUMA, Kaori (LWUW) 6-1
3. Sinead Lohan/Ana Madcur (UM) def. CANDIOTTO, Julia/SKALDA, Tanja (LWUW) 6-0
Match Notes
Longwood 4-3, 0-2 BSO
Miami 6-3, 2-0 ACC; National ranking #42
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (5,1,2)
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