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Fourth-ranked OC won all three doubles matches and scored a pair of shutout wins in singles to roll past Savannah College of Art and Design-Savannah (Ga.) 5-0 at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center. Next up for OC (17-3) will be a quarterfinal match against No. 5 Azusa Pacific (Calif.), the team that eliminated the Lady Eagles last season.
OC had little trouble against SCAD-Savannah (10-4), which advanced to the second round by beating Nebraska Wesleyan 9-0 during Tuesday's first round.
At No. 3 doubles, OC's Andreea Constantinescu and Maryfer Abreu Roman blew past Charlotte Debrey and Ana Dominguez 8-1. At the No. 2 position, OC's Gabriela Carrillo and Marta Contel Miranzo got pushed a bit but beat Maria Barragan and Carolina Viteri 8-5.
The No. 1 doubles match was easily the closest of the day, pitting OC's third-ranked duo of Hermon Brhane and Lucie Sipkova against the Bees' Theresa Schmaus and Magdalena Bresson, who were fifth in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association NAIA rankings. A late service break gave Sipkova and Brhane an edge and they held on for an 8-6 win.
In singles, Contel Miranzo and Carrillo finished off the match for the Lady Eagles with 6-0, 6-0 wins. Contel Miranzo beat Debrey at the No. 5 position and Carrillo downed Dominguez at No. 6.
OC led in the other four singles matches, with Brhane, Constantinescu and Abreu Roman each up a set when their matches were called.
"It was a good, solid day," Miller said. "We played pretty well. It's kind of nerve-wracking to play your first match against a team that's already played. But we came out and played well in doubles. We got up 3-0 and that set the tone for the day. We were playing well on all six courts in singles."
Miller said before the tournament that the Lady Eagles will have to remain focused against Azusa Pacific (19-3), which beat OC 5-3 in last year's quarterfinals. Azusa Pacific advanced Wednesday by beating Shorter (Ga.).
""I think we're a lot better than last year," Miller said. "I think our girls will have a lot of motivation against them. It's kind of nice that we lost to them last year, in a way. It gives us an opportunity to focus and realize we can't look ahead to anybody."
