The men's and women's tennis teams started out with different goals this year. While one team's goals turned into a barren wasteland of ashes and dust, there were some definite signs of hope for the other team for the 2015-16 season. Better to start with the good first to help digest the bad later.
The women's team started out this year with a lot of question marks. There were the solid upperclassmen led by Stephanie Wagner, joined by five freshmen. Interestingly enough, the team had zero Americans on it roster. It reads like a United Nations roll call. Just comes to show that Miami is getting slammed on the recruiting trail for both the men and women and they have been forced to go out to find some players to be competitive. Coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews found some good ones though. Of the five, Sinead Lohan and Wendy Zhang especially stood out over the season.
For the season, the women finished with a record of 18-7 (ACC 12-2), a disappointing quarterfinal finish in the ACC Championships (upset loss to Florida State) and a Sweet Sixteen spot in the NCAA Championships. In the NCAAs, the Canes lost to No. 2 North Carolina, but they have made the NCAA Sweet Sixteen or better 10 consecutive years. In the singles, Wagner shocked a lot of college tennis fans when she upset No. 1 Robin Anderson of UCLA in the quarterfinals to advance to the Final Four. She was defeated there but it was a great success for her. Sinead Lohan also made it to the quarterfinals. With these two leading the way, the women's season next year could be very interesting. Both of them won ITA All-American honors this year. Vanderbilt won the women's NCAA Championship.
Women's Team Ranking: No. 15
Singles:
Stephanie Wagner No. 9
Sinead Lohan No. 20
Clementina Riobueno No. 87
Wendy Zhang No. 101
Lina Lileikite No. 112
Doubles:
Lina Lileikite/Stephanie Wagner No. 21
Monique Albuquerque/Clementina Riobueno No. 58
By contrast, the men's team was an utter disaster. They started out the season ranked No. 55 but quickly dropped out of the ITA rankings after a few upset losses to Central Florida, Tulane, and Florida Gulf Coast (!). Freshmen Piotr Lomacki was forced into the No. 1 slot and struggled, ending the season with a 9-10 singles record. At one point, the Canes lost five consecutive dual matches with a 0-7 score. During that span, they lost 70 out of 75 sets played. Their biggest win of the season came during the last regular season match when freshman Christian Langmo defeated No. 4 and 2015 NCAA Singles Champion Rick Shane of Virginia. With zero chance of getting to the NCAA tournament, the Canes season ended in the first round of the ACC tournament against Duke. Since the start of the tennis team in the 30s, the Canes had only seven losing records but they racked up their eighth this year. The official site had this to say after their season ending loss.
Miami ends the season 7-17 overall and 1-12 in the ACC, but has high hopes for the 2015-16 campaign as the young and talented Canes return eight players, including seven freshmen and one sophomore.
It can't get any worse I hope.
Men's Team Ranking:
ITA: Unranked
Massey's Rankings: No. 103
Singles:
Piotr Lomacki No. 79
For the record, I haven't heard any news about Coach Mario Rincon losing his job, and the recruiting continues to flounder, so we'll get to see if Coach Rincon can get the ship righted. He has been at Miami for 11 season and has missed the NCAA tournament in six of those seasons. It's becoming more and more apparent that his job will be safe for awhile. Go Canes!
