A simple school flyer was all it took.

The flyer read, “Tennis lessons. Call for more info.” The wide-eyed six-year-old gave it a try and has never looked back. Now, 18 years later, senior Megan Bradley has blossomed into one of the nation’s elite tennis players and currently boasts the country’s No. 2 ranking.

The Bradley family is no stranger to athletics. Bradley’s father, Phil, played football at the University of Missouri and was the first African-American quarterback in the school’s history. Growing up, Mr. Bradley was a significant influence in Ms. Bradley’s life.

“He knows what it’s like to play college athletics and be in big competition,” Ms. Bradley said. “But at the end of the day I’m going to be his daughter and tennis is very minor in the grand scheme of things.”

By the time Ms. Bradley turned 12, she was bigger, stronger and smarter than her competitors. She was entering tournaments and winning them handily.

“It was just a matter of defining what my talent was and working hard to try and improve it,” she said.

By 2001 Ms. Bradley was the top-ranked player in her age group and was considered the country’s top recruit. Scholarship offers came regularly and coaches everywhere competed for her attention.

Ms. Bradley enrolled to play at UCLA but then transferred to UM after her freshman year. The switch made an immediate impact on both Ms. Bradley life as well as the team. Megan immediately elevated UM woman’s tennis onto the national scene.

Throughout her three years at UM, Ms. Bradley has developed relationships with teammates, coaches and even other athletes. Last year, Ms. Bradley dated former ‘Canes running back Jarrett Payton. Like Ms. Bradley, Payton too comes from a very athletic lineage, being the son of the late NFL Hall of Famer Walter Payton.

“It’s good to have someone so important in your life be able to feel the same things you’re feeling and talk about similar situations,” she said.

Payton frequently attended Ms. Bradley’s matches and was a pillar of solace throughout a rigorous tennis schedule.

“The mind of an athlete is unique,” she said. “It takes another athlete to understand it to its full capacity.”

Ms. Bradley has aspirations to take game her game to a professional level. However, her immediate goals are to lead her team to a national championship.

“My first responsibility is leading the team and then the individual aspect comes at the end of the year,” she said.

Ms. Bradley enjoys the excitement of a national ranking but only so much as its benefits her team.

“If my recognition can bring other people out to see my teammates and increase awareness, then I’m for it,” she said. “The best I can do is lead by example.”

Ms. Bradley has come a long way from the day she got her first tennis lessons. She has given a reputable face to UM women’s tennis and has touched many lives on her way. Ms. Bradley knows she is still growing and learning everyday and even said that her greatest accomplishment has yet to come.

Ms. Bradley’s trophy case is already filled with a variety of plaques, plates, metals and awards. But there is always room for one more. Especially if it says National Championship on it.

Chris Hamilton can be contacted at c.hamilton2@umiami.edu.

Miami (6-4, 2-1 ACC) performed in dominant fashion, capitalizing from effective serving and defense, to down Wake Forest in three games (30-24, 30-20, 30-19) Friday at the Knight Sports Complex.

The dominant theme of the night was balance. Three players had double-digit kills and combined for a kill percentage of .502. Overall, the ‘Canes hit .381 during the three-game match.

“We wanted to run a balanced attack. The hitters’ digging and passing was good enough to allow us to do that,” Head Coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said.

During the first game, Miami never lost a lead. Wake Forest put up some rallies to get within a point of the Hurricanes, but a momentum shift later in the game led to a game point for the Hurricanes at 29-23. After a side-out, senior Valeria Tipiana put away game one with a cross-court kill.

Game two saw Wake Forest take an early lead, fall behind, and later tie the match at 17-17. Miami would rally for eight straight points on its next possession with sophomore Jill Robinson serving. Robinson’s eight-point run included two aces, and for the match she tallied 44 assists and 10 digs, a double-double.

Robinson’s sets were on point the entire match, only making one setting error. Her ability to stay out of the net on short sets allowed middle hitter and red-shirt sophomore Francheska Savage to tally 11 kills. Most of Tipiana’s 15 kills came from Robinson sets.

“Jill runs the show,” Tipiana said. “It’s great to see her doing well and playing every day. She’s always getting better.”

After Robinson’s rally the Hurricanes cruised to finish off game two. Game three saw two long Miami service possessions. The first wave was led by Tipiana, who had three aces with her patented jump serve.

“Val’s jump always puts pressure on other teams,” Lantagne Welch said. “We like to serve confident in our gym.”

The second wave of serving was led by senior outside hitter Ashley Youngs, who got the start over senior Elizabeth Tyson. While she did not record any aces, Youngs’ serving kept the momentum in Miami’s favor.

“We really tried to work on exploiting the weak passer by not hitting directly to her but around her,” Youngs said.

Youngs’ performance came close to being a double-double with eight kills and 11 digs. After her serving streak ended, Wake Forest continued to struggle with a number of hitting errors.

Miami’s defense was successful in shutting down some of the Demon Deacon’s big hitters. Only Valerie Rydberg tallied double-digit kills for Wake Forest with 13 on 32 attempts. Wake Forest’s attack percentage for game three was an abysmal -.056 with only eight kills.

The Hurricanes combined for seven blocks in the match and senior libero Jamie Grass had another big performance, leading Miami with 14 digs and two assists. The Hurricane starters combined for 51 digs.

“They were ranked higher in our region in the ACC so it was great to win,” Youngs said. “Every conference game is a game we have to win.”

Rodolfo Tomarchio can be contacted at r.tomarchio@umiami.edu.

Offense: A-
This was definitely the most complete game for the much-maligned unit, with Berlin throwing the ball well and Frank Gore putting up good numbers. Guess what – the receivers actually had a good game too.

Quarterback: A-
Brock Berlin has never looked sharper, playing an efficient game but not being afraid to take chances deep. Hopefully this will carry over to Louisville.

Running Backs: B
Gore didn’t get into the end zone, but he didn’t need to, and he churned out another 100-yard rushing performance. Tyrone Moss needs to be a little more consistent.

Wide Receivers: B+
I truly don’t understand how freshman Lance Leggett could drop two easy passes against Louisiana Tech and then catch four passes for 80 yards and a touchdown in Atlanta. We’ll take it, though.

Offensive Line: D+
The loss of Eric Winston may mean no Orange Bowl for the Hurricanes. That’s how important he is. The o-line gave up way too many sacks Saturday.

Defense: A
There weren’t many spectacular plays made by the d-line, but it was dominant enough to make Reggie Ball absolutely miserable.

Defensive Line: B
The blowout win gave the coaches an opportunity to rotate players like Alton Wright and Bryan Pata into the game. The d-line terrorized both Louisiana Tech quarterbacks throughout the game.

Linebackers: A-
Leon Williams had his best outing of the season with two-and-a-half sacks. The rest of the unit played well too.

Secondary: A
Devin Hester has proven that he can do anything on a football field, and his interception late in the game was sensational. Brandon Meriweather and Greg Threat had picks as well, and they continue to play exceptionally for the Hurricanes.

Special Teams: A-
Jon Peattie’s 49-yard field goal on the Hurricanes’ first drive was a huge response to Tech’s field goal. Brian Monroe continues to make people forget how awful he was a year ago.

Coaching: A
Head Coach Larry Coker can rest easy for two weeks, but he better be ready for a strong Louisville team.

I am about to do something that is unheard of at the University of Miami. As a matter of fact, I am going to write something that will shock people, something that no one has ever seen.

I am going to write a column that actually compliments much-maligned Miami quarterback Brock Berlin. For the first time all season, Berlin deserves praise because he played well against Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Actually, Berlin was everything that Hurricane fans thought he would be when he transferred from Florida. He was poised in the pocket, efficient and crisp with his passes, and he even checked off his receivers.

Like most people, I was excited when Berlin announced he was transferring to Miami, and I thought we had our quarterback for the future. As it turned out, Berlin struggled last season and fell out of the graces of many fans and myself. However, the guy does win, and he proved that against the Seminoles earlier this season.

Against Georgia Tech, something strange happened. Berlin played like it was the last two minutes of the game throughout most of the game. He finished the afternoon completing 50 percent of his passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns. He did not throw a single interception. As a matter of fact, Berlin has thrown only two interceptions this season. His touchdown-to-interception ratio is five to two, compared to his 12 to 17 ratio last year.

Berlin passed for only 99 yards against Houston, and even Head Coach Larry Coker was upset with the passing game. Coker even hinted that a change could be coming in the future. With all the pressure of playing in a hostile environment on him, Berlin came up with his best game of the season, and one of the best games we have seen him play as a Miami quarterback.

So what does all this mean? Does it mean that I am convinced Berlin can take the Hurricanes to the national title game? Does it mean that all of his critics have been proven wrong and should apologize?

I don’t think we are quite there yet, because Berlin still has to prove that he can play this way over the course of the season. I was very pleasantly surprised by his play against the Yellow Jackets, but I am not convinced he has turned the corner. Even though I have been a critic of his, I would love for Berlin to prove me wrong and play well for the rest of the season. However, I still have my doubts about that happening.

What I did see is that Berlin is capable of playing at a high level and leading this team. The true test for Berlin will be whether or not he can be consistent.

Anyone can have one good game, but if he can put together a string of solid efforts, then he will prove all his critics wrong. Honestly, I am not sure if this game was a fluke or not. Of course, the Hurricane fan in me hopes that Berlin can play like he did Saturday every game, but the realist in me tends to think that it was one good game and we may see a different Berlin against Louisville in the Orange Bowl.

That said, I always hate the sportswriters who criticize athletes and then don’t give them credit when they play well. Therefore, I will simply say good game to Berlin and wish him well against Louisville.

Darren Grossman can be contacted at d.grossman@umiami.edu.

With Kyle Wright breathing down his neck, Brock Berlin had his strongest outing of the season as Miami (4-0, 2-0) beat Georgia Tech (2-2, 1-2) 27-3 in front of 55,000 fans at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.

Berlin threw for a career-high three touchdown passes and the defense forced four turnovers for the Hurricanes. Frank Gore rushed for 127 yards on 15 carries to lead the ‘Canes.

Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball struggled mightily, going 8-for-25 for 68 yards. He threw three interceptions in the face of heavy pressure from the Hurricane defense.

Head Coach Larry Coker said he was more than pleased with his team’s effort in a hostile environment.

“That was probably our most complete game that we’ve had,” Coker said. “I’m very encouraged. I really liked what I saw.”

Georgia Tech actually drew first blood in this game, with running back Chris Woods running up the middle for a 56-yard gain to set up a 24-yard field goal from Travis Bell, making the score 3-0 after the Yellow Jackets’ first possession.

Miami responded quickly, as Jon Peattie booted a 49-yard field goal on a drive where Berlin connected on 15-yard passes to Kevin Everett and Lance Leggett. Leggett, a true freshman, caught four passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.

After a Georgia Tech three-and-out, Berlin led the Hurricanes down the field again with the drive culminating in a 12-yard Roscoe Parrish touchdown reception. Parrish had his best outing of the season with three receptions for 73 yards and two touchdowns.

Coker pulled Berlin after the touchdown drive to give Wright two series of playing time, a decision the coach had made during the week. The ‘Canes did not make a first down during the red-shirt freshman’s two possessions.

Berlin said he was not bothered by Coker’s decision to give Wright a chance to play.

“That was the coach’s decision, and I was behind his decision all the way,” Berlin said. “I wasn’t upset in the least.”

Miami didn’t get on the board again until midway through the second quarter, when Peattie drilled a 25-yard field goal to give the Hurricanes a 13-3 lead. On the first play of the ‘Canes’ next possession, Berlin completed a 57-yard touchdown pass to Leggett to make the score 20-3 and essentially put the game out of reach for the Yellow Jackets.

The Hurricanes’ final score came on the first drive of the second half, as Berlin connected with Parrish on a 44-yard touchdown strike. The senior signal-caller finished with a line of 10-for-20 for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Wright played the fourth quarter, going 4-for-6 for 24 yards.

Coker said he was thrilled with the play of Berlin despite having to sit out two series in the first half while Wright was in the game.

“I think he was a lot more aggressive,” Coker said. “He put a lot of extra practice time in with what he was doing. And guys came up with plays for him.”

Brandon Meriweather, Greg Threat and Devin Hester had interceptions for the Hurricanes. Leon Williams led the defense with two-and-a-half sacks.

The victory was an overwhelming success for Miami, but it may have suffered a devastating loss as left tackle Eric Winston had to be carted off the field with a knee injury. As of press time, no official word on Winston’s diagnosis had been released, but he is likely gone for the season, which would leave a huge void in the ‘Canes’ offensive line.

The Hurricanes will be off this week before taking on Louisville Oct. 14 at the Orange Bowl.

Eric Kalis can be contacted at e.kalis@umiami.edu.