Miami women’s tennis loses in nail-biting final in ITA Kick-off weekend

BY ERIK LAMM STAFF WRITER

The No. 10 Miami Hurricanes (3-1), a preseason top-16 team, were rewarded with a host nomination for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The ‘Canes hosted the No. 18 UCLA Bruins, No. 24 Iowa State Cyclones and Florida International University (FIU) Panthers at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables, Florida. Miami advanced to the finals of the tournament before coming up just short against the Cyclones, 3-4.

The four-team tournament occurred over the course of the weekend with UM first battling against FIU. The winner would advance to play the victor of UCLA and Iowa State, adding extra stakes to the South Florida rivalry.

Miami started the day on fire as it dominated all facets of the game to collect the doubles point. Junior Audrey Boch-Collins and freshman Mia Mack crushed their opponents, 6-0, while redshirt sophomore Alexa Noel and junior Isabella Pfennig finished the next match, 6-3. Fifth-year senior Devenia Achong and fourth-year junior Maya Tahan were winning, 4-3, when the match was abandoned.

Leading 1-0, it was a race to see which of the Hurricanes could finish first. UM collectively demolished the Panthers early on, as every player won their opening set.

Noel was forced to a tiebreaker on Court 1 but comfortably won, 7-6 (7-1), to complete the first set sweep.

Achong on Court 2 was the first to finish, as she sprinted to a 6-3 6-2 victory. Tahan finished next as she won, 6-3, 6-3, to put the ‘Canes a victory away from winning entirely.

On Court 1, Noel finished the deal, as she blanked her opponent in the second set to win, 7-6, 6-0, and advance Miami to the championship game. The final three matches were called with UM leading or tied in every match.

While the ‘Canes were likely gearing up to face the No. 18 UCLA Bruins (1-2), it was actually the No. 24 Cyclones (3-1) who moved along to the finals, as they edged UCLA, 4-3, in the waning light Saturday evening.

The following afternoon, the Hurricanes and Cyclones would duke it out on a fittingly windy day. The Cyclones struck first, as they narrowly snatched the doubles point. On Court 3, BochCollins and Mack fell, 3-6, while Achong and Tahan came up just short as they lost, 4-6.

Despite trailing, there was an air of optimism as the singles play commenced. Needing four ‘Canes to prevail, five of six won their opening sets with only Boch-Collins trailing on Court 4, 3-6.

Tahan leveled the match with an impressive 6-2, 6-1 victory on Court 6. The junior finished the weekend undefeated for the ‘Canes. Next, Pfennig pushed Mi- ami ahead, 2-1, as she came out on top, 6-3, 6-4.

Mack put the Hurricanes tantalizingly close to victory, as she defeated the No. 114-ranked Cyclone, 7-5 6-4 on Court 5. With UM now up 3-1 and needing one more victory, only Courts 1, 2 and 4 were still up in the air.

Iowa State answered quickly, claiming one of the three remaining points as Boch-Collins lost, 3-6, 4-6.

With Courts 1 and 2 remaining, things took a scary turn as Achong fell behind, 2-5, in her third set on Court 2 and Noel trailed, 3-5, on Court 1.

Noel battled off one match point and at 4-5, had three opportunities to tie the third set, but she lost the next three points to lose, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6.

With all hope now resting on Achong’s shoulders, she responded, winning three straight games to tie the set at 5-5. The Cyclones proved too strong as Achong was defeated, 6-2, 4-6, 5-7 to give

Iowa State a 4-3 victory in the ITA Kick-off Weekend.

“I think that, kind of, the rhythm of the match went their way after doubles. Typically, if we lose the doubles point, we don’t really carry it forward. But I think that doubles affected us today a little bit and we can’t let them happen,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “But, once again, listen, I give a lot of credit to Iowa State. I think their energy, their enthusiasm, the way they played, the way they came after us — I think it caught us by surprise a little bit at some positions. We can’t let that happen if we want to win matches like that. But, look, I’m proud of the effort. Our girls laid it out there today. It was just that they were a little bit better than us.” dearv@themiamihurricane.com.

The Hurricanes have a chance to get back in the win column when they play Florida Gulf Coast this Friday. The match is set to take place at noon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

V’s take is The Hurricane’s most controversial and longest-running column. It is a satirical work published biweekly by students and for students. Using our generation’s “colorful” language to address all things sex, love and gossip on campus, V is not for the politically correct or easily offended.

I hear wedding bells!

Let’s be real, we are at the mercy of the University of Miami’s social media influencers. These TikTok, YouTube and Instagram icons have positioned themselves atop a social pyramid with profound trickle-down consequences. It feels like more and more often, these monarchs reign over our group conscious of what’s “in” and what’s “out.”

Whether it be bulky Stanley Tumblers, the impractical “The Tote by Marc Jacobs,” overpriced YoungLA crew neck t-shirts or matching spandex gym-sets (camel toe sold separately… literally); if they post it, we’ll buy it. From mega-star @Xandrapohl to TikTok icon @Gailthegirl of UM’s campus, we flock like a herd of sheep. To their each and every whim we so quickly waiver.

However, it has been brought to my attention that over this past weekend, a positive force of influencer power has finally caught wind. UM’s biggest influencer, Alix Earle, said “yes” to a lifetime of disappointment in the backyard of an off-campus Sigma Chi frat house during the SigChi “wedding” party. Clad in white, Mrs. Earle, walked (or stumbled) down an aisle with the eyes of UM’s most impressionable upon her.

I don’t mean to beat you over the head with a history textbook, but if our past has taught me anything, it’s that we have a track record of mainstreaming these influencer fads within a matter of days. So, come Valentine’s Day, I expect that beyond a shadow of a doubt, 75 percent of the UM student body will be in wedlock. We can all thank Alix Earle, or better I say Mrs. Alix Earle-frat-guy, for helping our campus move toward a more virtuous and monogamous community of happily wedded 20-year-olds. So long, pool parties and Friday night dick-appointements and hello to a life-time of resentment and day drinking (not the fun kind).

Sure, Earle’s “big day” may have been a large-scale spectacle (complete with actual brand endorsements) for Greek life affiliates to get belligerent at and no actual vows were exchanged between the newlyweds. However, if the explosion of flare-leggings and blonde balayage have indicated anything, it’s that we tend to take things a little too far and this time it may be as far as the altar. I just hope I get a plus one.

Till death do us part. Yours always, V