Vallverdu Wins Flight A's of the Desert Collegiate Classic
Nov. 6, 2006
Palm Springs, Calif. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team wrapped-up their weekend at the Women’s Fall Desert Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, California. Laura Vallverdu, Caren Seenauth, and Romy Farah all came up with successful results.
As a non-ranked player, Laura Vallverdu displayed her competitive edge on the courts outshining all five of her opponents, three of whom are nationally ranked in the ITA. The freshman from Spain finished with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 victory in the final round defeating the top freshman in the country, Amanda McDowell of Georgia Tech.
“Laura has made a tremendous transition to college tennis” commented head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews. “She’s proven she’s one of the top freshman in the country”.
“We are very proud of all of the hard work and dedication she’s showing toward this program.”
Vallverdu captured big wins in the earlier rounds, beginning with a defeat over Whitney McCray, a junior from Georgia Tech, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. In round of 16, Vallverdu posted incredible results against No. 33 Tracy Lin of UCLA, 6-3, 6-3.
After this weekend’s victory, Vallverdu’s record sits at 16-2 on the season.
In the quarterfinals, Vallverdu defeated No.49 ranked Anca Anastasiu who was placed as the fifth seed of the competition, 6-3, 6-3. Before advancing to the finals, Vallverdu exhibited a consistent pace with a win over No. 7 Amanda Fink, 6-1, 6-1 in the semi-final round.
Junior Romy Farah also had a huge weekend for the Hurricanes recording a first round victory in Flight A over No.23 ranked Diane Matias of USC, 6-2, 7-6(5). Farah also won 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 defeating No.44 ranked and fourth seed Alex McGoodwin of UCLA in the second round.
“Farah’s results this weekend show that she is without a doubt a very seasoned player in collegiate tennis”, stated Yaroshuk-Tews. “Taking down Matias and Goodwin, shows that she has come a long way so far this fall”.
In flight B, Caren Seenauth finished 3-1 on the weekend, beating players from Baylor and Texas before coming up short against No.74Tarryn Rudman of Georgia Tech. After a bye, Seenauth defeated Zusana Chmelarova of Baylor 6-3, 6-4 in the second round. In the quarterfinals, she won 6-4, 6-4 over Stephanie Davidson of Texas. Seenauth came up with a win over Iva Mihaylova, 6-4, 6-4 of Texas.
“Seenauth has shown great consistency this fall in her training and her match play. We’re excited that she’s playing such great tennis for us so early in the season”, said Yaroshuk-Tews.
The UM women’s tennis squad will host the Miami Fall Invitational at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center November 10-12.
