Miami's Cohen and Applebaum Earn Automatic Bids to NCAA Individual Championships
May 4, 2006
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Miami sophomore Audra Cohen earned an automatic bid as the No. 1 seed to the NCAA Singles Championship and Miami’s second ranked doubles pair of Cohen and senior Melissa Applebaum received an automatic bid to the NCAA Doubles Championship as the No. 2 seed when the NCAA announced Thursday the field of 64 singles players and 32 doubles teams that will compete in the 2006 NCAA Women’s Tennis Individual Championships.
The singles and doubles competition will take place May 23-28 at the Taube Tennis Center on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. at the conclusion of the team championship that will be held in the same site, May 18-22.
Cohen becomes Miami’s second-consecutive No. 1 seed as Megan Bradley was seeded first heading into the 2005 NCAA Singles Championships.
The top three seeded players in the NCAA Singles Championship all hail from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Cohen leads as the No. 1 seed followed by No. 2 seed Kristi Miller of Georgia Tech and No. 3 seed Daniela Bercek of Duke.
A native of Plantation, Fla. , Cohen has been the nation’s second-ranked player since April 4th. She has amassed a 27-1 overall record and also holds a 23-4 overall doubles record.
Cohen was named the ACC Player of the Year after posting a perfect 11-0 record in league play. She enjoyed a career-best 27-match win streak before dropping her first match of the season to No. 1 ranked Miller in the ACC Championship final. Cohen holds an impressive 16-1 record against ranked opponents, seven of which have been ranked among the Top 25.
As a freshman at Northwestern, Cohen reached the NCAA Championship final as the No. 3 seed where she fell to Baylor’s Zuzana Zemenova in three sets, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. She also reached the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship.
Together, Miami’s second ranked Cohen/Applebaum pair has posted a 17-1 record and holds and 11-0 mark against ranked opponents. The tandem has upset two Top 10 doubles teams and was on pace to defeat Georgia Tech’s 10th ranked Miller/Lyndsay Shosho pair before the match was abandoned.
Applebaum’s NCAA experience dates back to 2003 when she reached the Round of 16 with Bradley.
Former greats Lise Gregory and Ronni Reis, won Miami’s first-ever NCAA Doubles Championship in 1986. Miami has never won a NCAA Singles Championship.
The Hurricanes will first concentrate on the NCAA Women’s Tennis Team Championships, which begin with the First and Second Rounds March 12-13. Seventh-seeded Miami received its second consecutive bid to host a regional and will welcome Florida International, Boston University and Iowa to the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. The Hurricanes will face BU Friday at 1:00 p.m.
Tickets to the first and second round matches are just $5 dollars for adults and $3 dollars for children and senior citizens. To purchase tickets or for additional information please contact the Hurricane Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-CANES or visit online at hurricanesports.com.
