Vallverdu Lifts Miami Men's Tennis Over No. 17 Rice
March 18, 2007
Coral Gables, Fla. – After dropping the first set at the No. 2 singles position, sophomore Daniel Vallverdu (Valencia, Venezuela) battled back to win two straight sets, clinching the 4-3 victory for the No. 73 University of Miami men’s tennis team over No. 17 Rice at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.
It was the second-straight win over a top-25 opponent for the Hurricanes, who improved to 6-7 and remain perfect versus the Owls at 7-0 all-time. Rice dropped its second straight to fall to 10-6 on the year.
“This is an incredible win for us over a super talented team,” said an exuberant Mario Rincon, Miami’s third-year head coach. “We matched them up in both doubles and singles, and were able to win a few key points. It was a great team effort, and the crowd helped too. They are important to us, and the guys really love the support.”
“With the heart, toughness and the way our team played and supported each other… I’m very proud to be wearing the U today,” added assistant coach C.J. Weber.
The Hurricanes came out strong in the doubles competition, forging ahead to the 8-3 win at No. 1 by the 15th-ranked doubles pair of seniors Luigi D’Agord (Freeport, Bahamas) and Josh Cohen (Weston, Fla./Laurel Springs), who improved to 9-4 with their second-straight lopsided victory.
However, the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches were tightly contested. At No. 3 the freshmen tandem of J.C. Whitner (Bradenton, Fla./Pendleton) and Hector Nieto (Key Biscayne, Fla./Coral Gables) battled point for point, but ended up falling 9-7, putting the pressure on the No. 2 doubles duo of Vallverdu and junior Vivek Subramanian (East Brunswick, N.J.). Vallverdu and Subramanian came out on top, 9-7, and the `Canes secured the valuable doubles point.
Cohen quickly added Miami’s second point with a straight-sets victory over Rice’s Filip Paroci at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-3, to improve to 13-8 overall. After falling to Rice in the No. 4 and 5 spots, the Owls evened the score at 2-all.
But at the No. 1 singles position, Miami’s 44th-ranked D’Agord was upset minded and rebounded from a 6-4 first set loss, to defeat No. 25 Ben Harknett, 6-1, 7-6, to move to 14-3 on the year and give the `Canes the 3-2 edge with two singles matches remaining.
Despite the effort, Miami fell at No. 6 singles, and it was up to 65th-ranked Vallverdu at the No. 2 position to save the day for the host Hurricanes. The 2006 ACC Freshman of the Year had already dropped the first set, 6-4, but with the support of the crowd and the match riding on his shoulders, he fought for the second and third sets, coming out on top, 7-6, 6-3. With his second-straight match-clinching win, Vallverdu earned his team-high 19th win of the season, improving to 19-6 overall and 9-3 in dual match play.
“I want to thank Luigi and Josh for winning,” said Vallverdu. “My win would have meant nothing without them. I look forward to our next match.”
That match comes quickly as the Hurricanes have just one day off before they return to the court, with three ACC matches over a five-day stretch. Miami opens the week versus No. 41 Georgia Tech on Tuesday, March 20, at 2 p.m. The match will be broadcast exclusively via streaming video on ACC Select at www.accselect.com. Hurricanes fans can purchase a Single Event Pass ($3.99 per event) or an All Event Pass ($5.99 per month) which allows unlimited access to matches.
Following Tuesday’s match, the ‘Canes take on No. 47 Maryland on Saturday, March 24 at 1:30 p.m. and Boston College on Sunday, March 25, at 11 a.m. Admission to all regular season matches at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center is free.
Miami 4, Rice 3
Singles
1. No. 44 Luigi D’Agord (UM) def. No. 25 Ben Harknett (RU), 4-6, 6-1, 7-6
2. No. 65 Daniel Vallverdu (UM) def. No. 116 Ralph Knupfer (RU), 4-6, 7-6, 6-3
3. Josh Cohen (UM) def. Filip Paroci (RU), 6-2, 6-3
4. Christoph Müller (RU) def. Vivek Subramanian (UM), 6-4, 6-3
5. No. 97 Jason Mok (RU) def. J.C. Whitner (UM), 6-3, 6-3
6. Filip Zivojinovic (RU) def. Hector Nieto (UM), 7-6, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 5, 1, 6, 2*
Doubles
1. No. 15 Cohen/D’Agord (UM) def. Scheil/Knupfer (RU), 8-3
2. Vallverdu/Subramanian (UM) def. Mok/Müller (RU), 9-7
3. Harknett/Paroci (RU) def. Nieto/Whitner (UM), 9-7 Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2*
