By Jordan Rinard, Senior Staff Writer
The Miami University women's tennis team is back in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year as it takes on the No. 11 University of Michigan in the regional opener.
The RedHawks (16-6, 8-0 MAC) have won 11 consecutive matches but are still looking for the program's first win in the Tournament.
"We've been working on improving our consistency and working on the patterns we've been working on all year," head coach Yana Carollo said. "It'll be a different speed and intensity and we're looking forward to competing. We've got some notes on each of their players, but we have to stay calm, focus on ourselves and stay in the moment. We have some great chances to pull it off. If we're competitive and play confident, we can pull it off."
Freshman Hannah Shteyn enters the match with much momentum, after having lost only once this season. Senior Alix Thurman was named MAC Tournament MVP for the second season in a row and earned First Team All-MAC honors for 10 wins at No. 1 singles. Shteyn also made the All-MAC Tournament Team.
The tandem of senior Ramona Costea and sophomore Andreea Badileanu are on a 13-match win streak. Badileanu has been an asset in singles as well, putting up a 5-2 record in conference and earning Second Team All-MAC honors.
"This week in practice, we've been working on our depth, our approach and our defense, since they are really aggressive," Badileanu said. "We can turn our defense into points. We're going to have to fight this weekend and play with confidence to get the win, and we're very close."
The Wolverines have won 18 matches in a row and have four players that have won 10 or more singles matches in Big Ten play.
If the 'Hawks win, they face the winner of DePaul University versus University of Kentucky Saturday in the regional final.
DePaul has won eight straight matches and is led by senior Rebeca Mitrea, who has a 38-5 overall record in singles. Kentucky, meanwhile, have lost six consecutive matches, including the last four which were sweeps.
Match play against Michigan begins at 1 p.m. Friday.
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