Feb. 2, 2007
Madison, Wis. -The fifth ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team fell to No. 8 Northwestern, 4-3, in the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships at the A.C. Nielsen Tennis Stadium Friday evening.
The Hurricanes were looking to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 1988. With the loss, Miami falls 3-1 overall, while Northwestern improve 3-0 on the season.
Both squads began the day with doubles, as Northwestern captured the doubles point early on in the match, taking a 1-0 advantage over Miami. Despite the loss, No. 7 ranked duo Audra Cohen and Laura Vallverdu did come away with a win defeating Samantha Murray and Lauren Lui, 8-2.
No. 1 ranked junior Audra Cohen posted her second singles win of the tournament, defeating Georgia Rose 7-6, 6-2 in the No. 1 position.
The Wildcats notched a point with a victory at the No. 5 slot when Suzie Matzenauer upended junior Caren Seenauth, 6-7, 7-6.
In the No. 3 position, No. 56 ranked Audrey Banada posted an impressive defeat over Alexis Prousis. After being down 3-6 in the first set, the senior came back to avenge the match finishing the second set undefeated at 6-0, then capturing the victory in the third set 6-1.
Northwestern took another lead as No. 53 Romy Farah, the only Hurricane player of the night to face a ranked opponent, lost to No. 66 Lauren Lui, 2-6, 6-7, in the No. 4 spot.
It all came down to the end as No. 6 freshman Laura Vallverdu and junior Gina Sabatino were both engaged in a three-game battle with their opponents.
After Vallverdu was down 3-6 in the first set, she rallied back to defeat Samantha Murray 7-5, 6-3 in the second and third set, competing in the No. 2 position to tie the match three-all.
Sabatino claimed her first set, 6-3, but was unable to hold off Nazlie Ghazal who came back and posted a 6-1, 6-3 finish in the second and third set to capture the win and clinch the Wildcat match victory.
The Hurricanes will compete in Saturday’s quarterfinal consolation round beginning at 3:30 p.m. C.T. to face No. 6 Baylor.