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Friday, May 10, 2002
FIU women edged out by Miami
in NCAA Regional play
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a battle of cross-town rivals in the opening round of the NCAA
Regionals in Gainesville, Fla., No. 32 Miami came back after
dropping the doubles point to defeat No. 35 FIU, 4-2, Friday
afternoon.
FIU (18-7) found itself trailing early on each of the three
doubles courts, but rallied to win at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions
to claim the first team point of the match.
With the score tied at five at No. 3, the Golden Panthers
Maria
Montoya (Cali, Colombia) and Dominique
Rosenberg (Santiago, Chile) broke serve to take a 6-5
advantage, then broke serve again at match point to win, 8-6.
The Golden Panthers clinched the point at No. 2 in another
hard-fought contest where Mei
Ly (Miami, Fla) and Marina Raic (Dubrovnik, Croatia)
outlasted UM's Igna deVilliers and Abby Smith,
9-8 (5).
The match featured multiple momentum swings right up to the
final point. Miami (14-6) tied the match, 1-1, at No. 2 singles
when Marcy Hora needed just 57 minutes to beat Ly in straight
sets, 6-0, 6-2.
The Golden Panthers regained the lead as Cristana
Campana (Quito, Ecuador) recorded her 17th straight singles
win of the season, beating the Hurricanes' Sihem Bennacer,
6-4, 6-1, at No. 4.
But UM took control of the match from there. First, it was
Ewelina Skaza at No. 5 beating Raic, 6-3, 6-4, then Sara
Robbins defeated Nazly
Elsawaf (Cairo, Egypt), 6-2, 6-3, at No. 6.
Miami clinched the victory in a battle of two former teammates
at the No. 1 position where Mari Toro, who played as a
freshman last year at FIU and ranked No. 64 in the nation coming
in, battled the Golden Panthers unranked Anneliese
Rose (Boynton Beach, Fla.).
Rose won the first set, 6-3, but Toro came back and dominated
in the second, winning 6-0. That set up a deciding third set
where Toro claimed the early advantage, jumping out to a 4-1
lead. Rose broke Toro's serve, then held her own, winning the
next three games to tie the set at 4-4.
But Toro held serve the next two games, coming away with a
match-clinching, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 decision that took two hours-30
minutes to complete.
"This was one of those matches that could have gone either
way and to lose it was obviously a disappointment," said
FIU head coach Ronni Bernstein. "But we want to keep
the tradition going in the future. After two straight NCAA bids,
our goal is to be back here again next year."
Miami advances in postseason play, taking on the winner of
Florida vs. UCF, Saturday afternoon, 4 p.m., on the Gators' home
courts.
Final Score: No. 32 Miami 4, No. 35 Florida
International 2
Singles
No. 1: Mari Toro (UM) def. Anneliese
Rose (FIU) 3-6, 6-0, 6-4
No. 2: Marcy Hora (UM) def. Mei
Ly (FIU) 6-0, 6-2
No. 3: Maria
Montoya (FIU) vs. Staci Stevens (UM), DNF
No. 4: Cristina
Campana (FIU) def. Sihem Bennacer (UM) 6-4, 6-1
No. 5: Ewelina Skaza (UM) def. Marina Raic (FIU) 6-3,
6-4
No. 6: Sara Robbins (UM) def. Nazly
Elsawaf (FIU) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1: Campana/Rose (FIU) vs. Hora/Toro (UM), DNF
No. 2: Ly/Raic (FIU) def. Igna DeVelliers/Abby Smith (UM)
9-8 (5)
No. 3: Montoya/Dominique Rosenberg (FIU) def. Robbins/Stevens
(UM) 8-6 |