Hurricanes Finish 2005-06 Season Ranked 11th in Fila/ITA Rankings
June 2, 2006
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Junior Luigi D’Agord and freshman Daniel Vallverdu of the University of Miami have earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-America honors based on their accomplishments this season as announced by the ITA.
Along with the All-America accolades, D’Agord, the 2006 ACC Player of the Year, and Vallverdu, the 2006 ACC Freshman of the Year, along with junior Josh Cohen are listed among the final Fila singles and doubles rankings.
In singles D’Agord concludes the season ranked third, Cohen 81st and Vallverdu 109th. D’Agord and Vallverdu finish the season ranked 13th in doubles.
As a team, second-year head coach Mario Rincon, the 2006 ACC Coach of the Year, and the Hurricanes sit at 11th in the final team rankings after finishing the 2005-06 season with a 20-5 overall record. Among UM’s accomplishments this season included winning a share of the 2006 ACC regular season title with a 9-2 mark in league play and making the program’s first round of 16 appearance at the NCAA Tournament in five years.
In his first season with the Hurricanes, D’Agord, a Freeport, Bahamas native who transferred to UM from Alabama, recorded one of the most successful seasons in Miami’s storied history to earn ITA All-America honors in singles. Posting an overall record of 36-5, he finished the season tied with former UM All-American Conny Falk for the second-most wins in a single season in school history.
Throughout the year he was 20-1 in dual matches and was the only player in the ACC this season to go undefeated (11-0) in league play.
After earning the NCAA Singles Championship Tournament’s No. 3 overall seed, D’Agord advanced to the round of 16 before falling to Clemson’s Clement Reix, ending his impressive 21-match win streak and drawing his season to an end.
Vallverdu, who hails from Valencia, Venezuela, earned All-America status for his play in doubles this season. After enrolling at UM prior to the start of the spring semester, Vallverdu posted an overall record of 19-7 in doubles and pairing with D’Agord, who also earned All-America honors in doubles, advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships.
In singles the freshman posted an overall record of 17-7 along with an impressive 9-2 mark in league play to earn conference freshman of the year honors.
The pair become the first UM players to earn All-American honors since Todd Widom was last tabbed an All-American in 2003.
Behind an overall record of 27-6, including a seven-match win streak to close out the season, Cohen finished his junior season at UM ranked nationally for the third consecutive season.
