Miami Women's Tennis Gear Up for the Start of the Dual Season
Jan. 25, 2007
Coral Gables, Fla. – The fifth ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team opens the 2007 dual season with two home matches beginning Friday, January 25th against in-state rival Florida Atlantic, followed by a match-up with Princeton University on Saturday. Both matches are set to begin at 2:00 p.m. and will be played at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. Admission is free to both the general public and students.
The Hurricanes will play their first dual-match after opening the season at the FIU Spring Classic. Miami faced players from tournament host No. 35 FIU as well as No. 33 USF and No. 75 Auburn.
No. 56 ranked senior Audrey Banada finished with wins in all three of her singles Fight 1, defeating two ranked opponents including No. 10 Shadisha Robinson of USF and No. 84 Fani Chifchieva of Auburn. After coming off an impressive weekend at the invitational, the native from North Miami Beach, Fla. was selected by the Atlantic Coast Conference as the first Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for the 2007 season.
Junior Gina Sabatino also finished the weekend with a 3-0 record in singles Flight 4, while the Hurricanes had two doubles teams wrap-up the weekend undefeated in doubles Flight 1 including Audrey Banada and Romy Farah, and Gina Sabatino and Emily Mowery in Flight 3.
This spring, the Hurricanes have made their presence known in the 2007 Preseason Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings as they are the fifth ranked intercollegiate women’s tennis team in the country. Four singles players rank in the top 100 including junior Audra Cohen at No.1, and freshman Laura Vallverdu who is ranked No. 6, making her the highest ranked freshman in the NCAA rankings.
Also in the top 100 in singles is junior Romy Farah, who is ranked No. 53.
This spring Miami has two doubles teams ranked in the top 10 of the ITA rankings. Duos Audrey Banada and Romy Farah open the 2007 season ranked No. 6, while Audra Cohen and Laura Vallverdu follow right behind ranked No.7 in the nation.
Scouting the Owls: Florida Atlantic University opens its season on the road, facing the Hurricanes who lead the way in the all-time series with a 23-0 record. Last season, the Hurricanes defeated FAU, 7-0. The eight-player squad finished last season with a 5-13 record.
Scouting the Tigers: Head coach Kathy Sell is in her third season with the Princeton program. She leads a talented group of freshman who are ranked No. 2 in Division I according to Tennisrecruiting.net, including Miami native Melissa Saiontz. The rookie won the USTA Women’s Collegiate Invitational last October.
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