Hurricanes Open Season this weekend against Florida Atlantic and Pennsylvania

Jan. 27, 2005

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The 12th ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team opens the 2005 dual season with two home matches beginning Friday, January 28th against in-state rival Florida Atlantic at 6:00 p.m., followed by a match-up with the University of Pennsylvania Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Both matches will be played at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. Admission is free to both the general public and students.

NEWS AND NOTES:

Scouting the Owls: Florida Atlantic University opens their season on the road, facing the Hurricanes who are undefeated in the all-time series and hold a 20-0 record. Last season, the Hurricanes defeated FAU, 7-0. The Owls field a team of seven, including four returnees and three newcomers. They finished last season ranked 70th in the country after posting a 16-6 record. Both teams met in the fall season at the UM Fall Classic where the Hurricanes won all their matches in straight sets.

Scouting the Quakers: The 53rd ranked University of Pennsylvania Quakers also open their season on the road when they face the Hurricanes for only the second time in school history. Miami won their only meeting, 8-1, in the 1985 season. Penn closed last season with a 15-5 record while finishing third in the Ivy League. The Quakers return five letterwinners and welcome six newcomers.

Let’s Get It Started: In the first three season under head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews, the Hurricanes have gone 3-0 in season openers. In fact, the Hurricanes have won 18 straight season opening matches, with their last loss dating back to the 1986 season.

Hurricanes in the Rankings: The Hurricanes are ranked 12th in the season’s first Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll that was released January 11th. Senior All-American Megan Bradley is the Hurricanes’ lone ranked singles player. The Senior All-American is ranked second after posting a 19-1 record in the fall season. Bradley is also joined by teammate Audrey Banada in the doubles rankings. The Hurricanes’ No.1 doubles tandem are ranked 8th after finishing the fall season with a 9-1 record.

Hurricanes Invited to USTA/ITA National Women’s Indoor Team Championships:The Hurricanes became the first Miami team in history to be invited to the USTA/ITA National Women’s Indoor Team Championships that will be held Feb. 3-5 at the University of Wisconsin’s A.C. Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Collegiate Tennis’ premiere indoor team tournament will field 16 of the nation’s top teams and will serve as a preview of the teams to beat in May. Joining Miami are teams from Clemson, Duke, Georgia, Harvard, Kentucky, New Mexico, Northwestern, North Carolina, Stanford, Texas A&M, Tulane, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Washington and Wisconsin. On hand will be all four semifinalists from last May’s NCAA Championships: champ Stanford, finalist UCLA and semifinalists Clemson and Vanderbilt.

Hello, ACC: As the Hurricanes begin their inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference they join some of the elite teams in the country. Three ACC schools, including Miami, reached the Elite Eight at the 2004 NCAA Championships. Of all the conferences represented at next month’s USTA/ITA National Women’s Indoor Team Championships, the ACC produced the most teams with four, including Clemson, Duke, Miami and North Carolina. The SEC and PAC-10 will have three teams apiece at the tournament. The ACC also has the same four schools ranked in the Top 15 of the season’s first ITA team poll. Clemson owns the highest ranking for an ACC school at 4th followed by Duke (No.8), Miami (No.12) and North Carolina (No.15). All in all, nine of the ACC’s 11 women’s tennis programs are ranked in the Top 55: Wake Forest (No.30), Florida State (No.31), Georgia Tech (No.34), Maryland (No.52) and Virginia (No.55).

Head Coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews: Paige Yaroshuk-Tews is entering her fourth season as the helm of the Hurricanes’ women’s tennis squad. She owns a 51-18 (.739) record after leading Miami to their ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Last season the Hurricanes enjoyed one of their most successful seasons in recent history, finishing the season ranked 15th with a 20-4 record after winning their eighth and final BIG EAST Conference title and reaching the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time since the 1986 season.