Miami Women's Tennis Set to Take on Florida International
Feb. 28, 2007
Coral Gables, Fla. – The ninth ranked Miami women’s tennis team welcomes the Golden Panthers of No. 28 Florida International University Thursday, March 1 beginning at 2 p.m. at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. Admission to the Neil Schiff Tennis Center is free to the public.
The Hurricanes (5-2, 0-0 ACC), get back into action after a hard fought battle against the University of Florida last weekend. Miami took on the then No. 4 Gators to capture the doubles point, but fell to the in-state rival 4-3 at the Linder Stadium.
Miami posted the first point on the board after Audra Cohen and Caren Seenauth defeated Megan Alexander and Diana Srebrovic in the No. 2 spot, 8-3. Senior Audrey Banada and Romy Farah clinched the doubles win after they topped then No. 14 Whitney Benik and Nina Suvak 8-4.
With the win, Banada notched the No.1 spot as the all-time leader in career doubles with a record of 107-24, surpassing former Hurricane Melissa Applebaum, 107-34, for the top spot.
This season, Banada has earned her spot amongst the top-thirty singles players in the country, marking a new career high as the No. 26 player in the nation. Banada has been ranked as high as No. 56, her previous ranking entering the spring 2007 season.
Miami moved one spot from No. 8 to the ninth ranked team in the latest ITA rankings, while three schools from the ACC ranked in the top ten along with the Hurricanes including No.4 North Carolina, and No. 6 Georgia Tech. No. 13 Clemson and No. 21 Wake Forest round out the top 25 spots in the rankings.
Scouting the Opponent:
As the two-time defending champions of the Sun Belt Conference, FIU heads to Coral Gables with a 6-2 record overall and a 4-2 mark against ranked teams so far in 2007dual season. The Golden Panthers are ranked No. 28 in the latest ITA rankings, marking it as the highest for the program since a ranking of No. 25 on Feb. 14, 2006.
FIU is led by head coach Ronnie Bernstein, the winningest coach in the history of the Golden Panthers program. Now in her 11th season, Bernstein sports a career record of 164-80 (.672).She is also a four-time University of Miami All-American and member of the Hurricanes Sports Hall of Fame.
The Golden Panthers are ending an eight-straight road match dating back to Feb. 3 before facing the Hurricanes, and will return to their University Park courts this Sunday to host Florida State.
