22 years as head coach, 22 wins.
When it comes to Clemson, Paige Yaroshuk-Tews has no shortage of success at Miami — with a perfect 22-0 record against the Tigers — and Thursday morning was more of the same. The fifth-seeded Hurricanes opened postseason play with a bang, cruising to a 4-0 sweep over No. 12 seed Clemson in the second round of the ACC tournament in Cary, North Carolina.
Once again, No. 13 Miami women’s tennis (15-6, 9-4 ACC) was no match for the No. 42 Tigers, which the Hurricanes beat 7-0 less than a week ago on the road. With the victory, the ‘Canes have now reached the ACC quarterfinals in all 18 of its tournament appearances.
“Obviously, I’m happy with the outcome,” Yaroshuk-Tews said in a Miami Athletics release. “I think we played pretty good doubles at two, which we really didn’t do the last time we played this team. So, overall just happy to be advancing.”
The Hurricanes barely secured the doubles point against Clemson in South Carolina, but they coasted to a 1-0 lead on Thursday. The No. 29th–ranked pair of Alexa Noel and Isabella Pfennig rebounded against Cristina Mayorova and Daniella Medvedeva, 6-1, after losing to them last Friday.
Moments later, the doubles point was won, as Audrey Boch-Collins and freshman Mia Mack, making her postseason debut, downed Jenna Thompson and Leigh Van Zyl, 6-2. Daevenia Achong and Maya Tahan, together ranked No. 44, were tied 4-4 with Sophia Hatton and Eleni Louka when play stopped.
Miami continued its dominance in singles with No. 83 Pfennig upping the ‘Canes lead to 2-0 following a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Thompson. Boch-Collins quickly extended the lead thanks to a spectacular 6-0, 6-1 win against No. 113 Medvedeva, the junior’s third ranked singles victory as a collegian.
“For Bella to get on the board as fast as she did, followed by Boch, [was big],” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “Whenever you can put points on the board as fast as those two did today, you’re applying pressure to the other team. So, I thought they did a good job of just getting off the court pretty quickly, pretty efficiently.”
Fifth-ranked Noel, the highest rated Miami singles player, sealed the match with a 6-2, 7-5 triumph over Louka for her ninth straight win. All other matches were suspended. No. 105 Achong and Tahan trailed on Courts 2 and 6, respectively, while Mack headed to a third set on Court 5.
The Hurricanes return to action on Friday at 10 a.m. against fourth-seeded Virginia, ranked No. 10 nationally, in the ACC championship quarterfinals. Miami dominated Virginia, 6-1, on March 24 at home in its only meeting of the season.