Miami tennis team braced for tight clashes on journey to championship

Miami University women’s tennis won the Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular season Championship earlier this week with a win over University at Buffalo.

After finishing with an 8-2 conference record, the RedHawks will enter the MAC Tournament on Apr. 30 in hopes of winning the championship.

For the 2021-2022 season, the RedHawks welcomed seven freshmen to join two seniors.

Ricardo Rosas, the head coach of Miami’s tennis, welcomed this unique combination and praised the impact that the seniors have had on the new players.

“The seniors have been great at mentoring the freshmen, and I think that’s part of the success of the group,” Rosas said.

Brindtha Ramasamy, a senior on Miami's tennis team, said that, in the beginning, there were challenges given the dynamics.

“It’s been great with seven freshmen. It was hard in the beginning,” Ramasamy said, “but we all worked really well together. And now we’re here.”

During the pre-season, Miami fell to Kentucky and Northwestern but pulled off a 6-1 thumping of Butler and beat Harvard 4-3.

As conference play began, the RedHawks found themselves on the same wavelength.

On Mar. 18, they beat Buffalo 5-2. It was the first of a six-win streak that started conference play.

Ramasamy said a strong culture has been pivotal to the team’s success this season.

“We just had to work well from the start,” Ramasamy said. “ … We had to understand each other, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to function together on the court.”

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The RedHawks were undefeated in the MAC until they were dealt a defeat by Ball State on Apr. 10. Ball State was the eventual winner of the West division in the MAC.

The only other conference loss for the RedHawks came on Apr. 15 against University of Toledo, but they regained form to beat Bowling Green State University 5-2 and Buffalo 6-1 later in the month to top the West division.

For Ramasamy, the high point of the season so far was the final regular season game, an away match-up on Apr. 24.

“The highlight was definitely the game against Buffalo last weekend,” Ramasamy said. “That was the match that decided if we were going to win the regular season or not.”

Rosas said that, having split the season series with their upcoming opponent Toledo, the team understands the challenge ahead of it.

“I think that the team understands that we already played [Toledo] and it’s going to be a battle,” Rosas said. “But I think they’re embracing that and they’re super excited to go and hopefully get a MAC tournament championship.”

Ramasamy is excited and confident going into the playoffs.

“I think we’re going to win,” Ramasamy said. “I think we’re going to win and then we’re going to the NCAA. I think we have a good shot.”

The RedHawks, seeded no. 2, will face no. 3 Toledo on Saturday, Apr. 30 at 2 p.m. in Muncie, Ind. and will face the winner between no. 1 Ball State and no. 4 Buffalo on Sunday, May 1.

@Sennitzer

nguye251@miamioh.edu