Sixth-Seeded Tigers Eliminated from ACC Tournament Quarterfinals

April 22, 2011

DURHAM, NC – The sixth-ranked and third-seeded Miami Hurricanes (19-5) eliminated the sixth-seeded Tigers (19-10) from the 2011 ACC Women’s Tennis Tournament Quarterfinals, 4-1, on Friday. The match was played at Duke’s Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center, as rain forced the teams from the Cary Tennis Complex.

The match, originally scheduled for 3:00 pm, started at 6:00 pm as the previous matches played out.

Clemson will now await word on an NCAA Tournament bid, which is handed out on May 3. The Tigers are ranked 13th nationally, and are vying to host a regional for the eighth consecutive season. NCAA Tournament regional play takes place form May 13-16 at campus sites, and gets underway after finals week.

Clemson’s schedule has been a strength all season, as they have played nine matches against teams currently in the top ten nationally.

With the win, Miami advanced to play No. 4 and two-seed North Carolina on Saturday.

Masha Belaya earned Clemson’s lone point as the Florida native defeated Danielle Mills, 6-1, 6-3 at flight five singles, playing aggressively. It was Belaya’s 23rd win of the season overall.

Perhaps the most intriguing match was one that didn’t finish between 2011 ACC Player of the Year and 7th-ranked Bianca Eichkorn and 10th-ranked Josipa Bek. Clemson’s Bek and Eichkorn played an extremely high level of tennis, with Bek taking the first set, 7-5, after breaking Eichkorn three times. Eichkorn had just held serve to make it 3-2 in the second set when play was halted. It was a matchup of the ACC’s two highest-ranked singles players.

Each of the two is also on the conference’s top two ranked doubles teams, but Miami controlled that match throughout, with 4th-ranked Eichkorn and Anna Bartenstein knocking off fifth-ranked Bek and Keri Wong, 8-2.

Wong, ranked 45th nationally, fell to #46 Bartenstein and flight two singles, Gaby Majia defeated No. 116 Nelly Ciolkowski at three, and No. 123 Kayla Rizzolo beat No. 122 Klara Vyskocilova at four singles to earn the win for Miami.

(3) No. 6 Miami (18-5) def. (6) No. 13 Clemson (19-10), 4-1 April 22, 2011 – Sheffield Tennis Center – Durham, NCACC Tournament Quarterfinals *Match played indoors due to rain in Cary, NC

Doubles: 1. #4 Eichkorn/Bartenstein (UM) def. #5 Bek/Wong (CU), 8-2 2. Magnusson/Vyskocilova (CU) v. Bolivar/Mejia (UM), 6-6 DNF 3. #78 Dubins/Mills (UM) def. Ciolkowski/Henry (CU), 8-2 Order of finish: 3,1

Singles: 1. #10 Josipa Bek (CU) led #7 Bianca Eichkorn (UM), 7-5, 2-3 DNF 2. #46 Anna Bartenstein (UM) def. #45 Keri Wong (CU), 7-5, 6-2 3. Gabriela Mejia (UM) def. #116 Nelly Ciolkowski (CU), 6-1, 6-2 4. #123 Kayla Rizzolo (UM) def. #122 Klara Vyskocilova (CU), 7-5, 6-3 5. Maria Belaya (CU) def. Danielle Mills (UM), 6-1, 6-3 6. Melissa Bolivar (UM) led Caroline Magnusson (CU), 6-4, 4-4 DNF Order of Finish: 3,5,4,2*