Non-Revenue Sport Recap: Tennis

In the second edition of our non-revenue sport recaps, we look back at the successful season of our Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams. We’ll start with the men, who had their winningest season since 2011. The men’s team is coached by Aljosa Piric, who just completed his second season in Coral Gables after spending the previous 4 seasons coaching Old Dominion University, where he was named the 2015-16 ITA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year. The Bosnia and Herzegovina native also represented his home country in the 2014 Davis Cup as a player. This season, Piric led the Canes to their first NCAA Team Championship berth in seven years. Miami compiled a 15-13 record on the season, and finished the year as the 42nd ranked school in the country. Freshmen Adria Sorano and Bojan Jankulovski as well as senior Christian Langmo led the Canes, as all three were named to the All-ACC team, marking the first time in program history that 3 Canes earned that recognition in one season. The team capped off their season with a first round victory in the NCAA Team Championships, knocking of the University of North Florida before falling to the #12 ranked University of Florida in the Round of 32.

In doubles action, the team of Sorano and Langmo achieved their own bit of success, finishing the season as the 28th ranked pair in ITA National Rankings, and 4th in the Southeast Region. The freshman and senior from Barcelona, Spain and Boca Raton, FL respectively reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Doubles Championship before once again falling to the Gators, as the team of Duarte Vale and McClain Kessler defeated the Miami pair 7-6, 7-6 in a hard fought contest.

The Miami women were coached by Paige Yaroshuk-Tews, who just completed here 21st season in Coral Gables (and 17th as head coach). The Miami women have a long history of success at the highest levels, including by their current assistant coach Laura Vallverdu, who compiled 131 wins, 2 top-10 rankings and an appearance in the NCAA Singles Championship Final in 2009. This season’s Canes had their own singles success story, as sophomore Estela Perez-Sommariba finished the season ranked #5 in the ITA National Rankings after reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Singles Tournament. Perez-Sommariba is the sixth player in Coach Yaroshuk-Tews 17 years to finish in the top 5.

As a team, the Miami women reached similar heights, capping off their season with a Sweet-16 finish in the NCAA Team Championships, a #17 ITA Ranking, and a final record of 18-8. This was the 16th consecutive season that the women finished the season ranked in the top 25, and the 12th out of the last 13 seasons that the Canes women reached the Sweet 16 of the Team Championships.

Congrats to our Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams on their strong seasons, and stay tuned for more recaps of all the sports at the U!