The Boston University women’s tennis team will be heading down to Florida to face the No. 15 University of Miami in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
BU (14-6) earned an automatic berth in the tournament after posting a 4-1 win over nine-time defending conference champion U.S. Military Academy in the Patriot League Championship game in Lewisburg, Pa., on April 20. This is the 14th NCAA bid for the program and its first since 2011, when the Terriers fell to ninth-seeded University of California-Berkeley in the opening round, 4-0.
After getting swept by the University of Virginia in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, the Hurricanes (19-5) received a No. 12 seed.
Sophomore Johanna Hyoty has led the Terriers all season. In Patriot League tournament play, she went undefeated in singles play and was awarded MVP of the tournament. In addition, Hyoty was named Patriot League Player of the Month for the month of March.
Miami boasts a powerful doubles duo in junior Monique Albuquerque and sophomore Clementina Riobueno. The tandem sits 11th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s doubles rankings.
The winner of the May 9 contest will take on the victor of the matchup between the University of Oklahoma and Wichita State University.
Men’s Tennis Falls in Patriot League Tournament
Competing in its first Patriot League championship tournament on Friday and Saturday, the Boston University men’s tennis team competed admirably, but fell to the U.S. Naval Academy in the semifinal match in West Point, N.Y.
The Terriers (9-10) came into the weekend as the No. 2 seed behind the U.S. Military Academy. As such, they received a bye into the tournament’s second round, where they faced seventh-seeded Loyola University–Maryland.
BU dominated from the get-go against the Greyhounds (10-7). In doubles, the duo of freshman Jake De Vries and classmate Jay Leelavanich posted a commanding 8-3 win in the No. 3 slot. Following suit, De Vries and Leelavanich’s teammates, seniors Chanon Varapongsittikul and Jesse Frieder, defeated the tandem of junior Harrison Kunkel and senior Connor Lisco by the same margin.
Things did not get better for the Greyhounds in singles play, as BU completed the sweep. Freshman Lucas Bombonatti got things started for the Terriers with a 6-3, 6-0 win over sophomore Jordan Kuchta in the No. 5 slot. Leelavanich then downed sophomore Alex Castro 6-3, 6-4. In the No. 4 slot, freshman Mario Sandoval beat sophomore Greg Olesnycky 6-2, 6-3 to punch the Terriers’ ticket to the semifinals.
A day later, BU matched up against the No. 3 seed Navy (18-10). In the quarterfinals, the Midshipmen took down Bucknell University 4-0. De Vries and Leelavanich fell to freshman Krishna Jana and sophomore Alex Gaines in the No. 3 slot, but the duos of Lemire and Sandoval and Varapongsittikul and Frieder won their respective matches to clinch the doubles point for BU.
Early on in singles play, rain forced the players to move indoors to the Lichtenberg Tennis Center to finish out the contest. The Terriers pulled ahead 3-1 thanks to key wins from Leelavanich and Bombonatti in the No. 6 and No. 5 spots, respectively. Navy would come storming back, though, winning the remaining three singles matches to secure its spot in the championship match against Army (19-5).
Jackie is a sports reporter for The Daily Free Press and has previously served as Managing Editor and Associate Sports Editor of the FreeP. At this moment, she's probably watching Shark Tank and thinking of ways to work, "and for that reason, I'm out," into casual conversations. Please send all inquiries in the form of a box combo from Cane's with no coleslaw and extra fries or follow her on Twitter at @jackie_bam
