This past Wednesday, Miami women’s tennis defeated Kennesaw State, winning 6-1. After an impressive season last year, including an individual national championship, the team has gotten off to a slower start this season. Before the match, the team was 0-4, having previously lost to FAU, LSU and FIU twice.
Starting off strong, Aely Arai and Jaquelyn Ogunwale dominated in doubles, winning 6-2 against Laura Nadaska and Che Nel. Clinching the doubles point, Raquel Gonzalez and Xinyi Nong defeated Ema Baraniakova and Sofia Madrid, winning 6-3, setting the ’Canes up for success in singles.
Moving into singles, Ogunwale snatched the win for Miami over Kennesaw’s Madrid, winning 6-1, 6-0. Dominating once again, Ogunwale defeated Izabelle Persson at line No. 4.
In a tight matchup, Miami’s Maria Paula Vargas came out on top against Nadaska, winning in three sets. The score was 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Despite being up 7-6 (0), 6-6 (5-2), Daria Volosova retired her match, giving a point to Kennesaw State. Volosova recently joined the ’Canes for the spring season from Ukraine.
In another tight match, Arai clinched the win against Sophia Unger, winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
At line No. 1, Gonzalez secured the win in a close match against Baraniakova, winning 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. Gonzalez is new to the team this year as a transfer from Oklahoma State, and she has already made strides. She is ranked No. 68 in the country and attended the NCAA Singles Tournament in the fall.
Although this is the first win the Hurricanes have secured this season, they have a fairly new roster and a young team. If they can continue to dominate and take close matches in the third sets, they can secure major conference wins.
The team will be heading to upstate New York to face Syracuse on Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. to kick off conference play.