Women's Tennis Sweeps Wisconsin to Advance to the Quarterfinals of the National Indoors
Feb. 1, 2007
Madison, Wis. – Fifth ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the third-consecutive season. The Hurricanes faced tournament host Wisconsin capturing a 7-0 first round victory Thursday afternoon at the A.C. Nielson Tennis Stadium. Miami improves to a 3-0 record, while the Badgers fall 2-1 overall.
Three players posted singles wins making their first National Indoor debuts as a Miami Hurricane, including No. 53 junior Romy Farah, junior Gina Sabatino, and No. 6 ranked freshman Laura Vallverdu.
The Hurricanes posted their first point on the board defeating the Badgers 1-0 to claim the doubles victory in the No.1 and No. 2 positions to begin the afternoon. No. 6 ranked Audrey Banada and Romy Farah faced the Wisconsin duo of Caitlin Burke and Elizabeth Carpenter in the No. 1 position, posting an 8-6 win. In the No. 2 spot, No. 7 ranked Audra Cohen and Laura Vallverdu upended Chelsea Nusslock and Morgan Tuttle, 8-1. The duo is now 3-0 since the start of the dual season.
The first singles point on the board came after an impressive 6-0, 6-0 straight-set victory by Farah, to put the Hurricanes up 2-0. The Cali, Colombia native defeated the Badgers’ Chelsea Nusslock in the No. 4 spot.
No. 1 ranked Audra Cohen finished 6-4 in her first set before capturing a 6-3 win in the second set taking down Caitlin Burke at the No. 1 spot. This is Cohen’s second consecutive defeat over Burke in the ITA National Indoors with the Hurricanes. Last season, Cohen defeated then No. 32 Burke 7-5, 6-3 to clinch the win for Miami in the first round.
Sabatino took down her opponent Morgan Tuttle 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 6 spot, while at the No. 3 spot, Miami’s No. 56 ranked senior Audrey Banada put the Hurricanes up 5-0 defeating Elizabeth Carpenter 6-2, 6-1.
Junior Caren Seenauth added a point on the board playing at the No. 5 position, defeating Erin Jobe 6-3, 6-3.
Vallverdu clinched the match-victory for the Hurricanes with an impressive defeat over Wisconsin senior, Kaylan Caiati 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 2 spot.
With the win, the Hurricanes have improved to a 9-10 overall record advancing to the quarterfinals in seven tournament appearances. Miami will face No. 8 ranked Northwestern with hopes of reaching the semifinals for first time since 1988. The match is set to begin at 3:30 p.m.
