Hurricanes Prepare To Take on the Yellow Jackets and the Tigers in ACC Action
March 23, 2007
Coral Gables, Fla. – The ninth ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team will swing back into conference action this weekend as they take on No. 6 Georgia Tech Saturday at noon before heading to South Carolina to face No. 7 Clemson Sunday at 10:30 a.m. for their first ACC matches on the road.
The Hurricanes (12-2, 3-0 ACC) are coming of a 7-0 sweep over Harvard University in a non-conference match-up at home at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. Currently Miami is sitting on a seven-match win streak with each match played at home, and will look to continue on an unbeaten path as they take on two highly ranked conference foes.
Miami was ranked ninth in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings that were released March 20th. The Hurricanes are also one of the top teams in the league as they are No. 2 in the ACC standings released March 21st.
The ITA also released the latest singles and doubles rankings as junior Audra Cohen remains as the top player in the nation. Freshman Laura Vallverdu ranks within the top 20 as the No. 16 player, while senior Audrey Banada is ranked No. 38.
Cohen is currently ranked twice in doubles as she and Vallverdu lead the Hurricanes as the highest ranked doubles duo of the team at No. 17. She has also moved up six spots to capture a mark in the top 25 with partner junior Caren Seenauth as the two are ranked No. 24 with an unbeaten mark at 9-0. Banada and partner Romy Farah also remain in the top 25 ranked No. 22 in the nation.
Heading back into conference play, Cohen (No. 1), Banada (No. 2), Farah (No. 3), and junior Gina Sabatino (No. 5) are all undefeated against ACC opponents in singles action.
Both matches will be a test of how well the Hurricanes compete on the road, as the Yellow Jackets lead the series 5-3 with the last five matches won by the conference opponent. The last time both squads faced-off was at the 2006 ACC Championships as Miami fell to then top-seeded Georgia Tech, 4-1 in the final.
Against the Tigers, Miami leads the series 16-4 dating back to 1982. The 1994 season was the last time Clemson defeated Miami as the Tigers won 5-0. Since that match, both squads have competed against each other four times, with Miami taking all four victories.
Scouting the Yellow Jackets:
With all eight players on the Yellow Jackets’ roster ranked in the ITA, the team is coming off a 5-2 victory over the University of South Florida as four of their singles players won in singles including No.7 Kristi Miller, Georgia Tech’s all-time leader in career singles, No. 99 Amanda Craddock, No.121 Amanda McDowell, and No. 44 Christy Striplin.
As a freshman, McDowell leads the team with 25 wins and an 11-1 overall mark in the dual season in singles. Craddock, another freshman, leads the Yellow Jackets with 21 wins in doubles, while she and doubles partner Miller have nine wins in dual match-ups.
Scouting the Tigers:
Clemson held its No. 7 ranking for the second straight week, and has now been ranked in the top-25 for 16 consecutive weeks. Three players are listed in the recent national rankings including No. 64 freshman Ani Mijacika, No. 67 Carol Salge, and No. 85 Estefania Balda.
The Tigers are fresh off a 5-2 victory over Troy to improve 12-2 on the dual season. They are also 3-0 against conference opponents and sit above Miami in the ACC standings at No. 1.
Mijacika has won her last six matches and currently owns a 16-5 overall record with an 11-2 mark in the dual season, while Balda, a freshman who just enrolled into Clemson this January, has compiled a 10-3 record.
This weekend both matches will be broadcasted exclusively 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 games.
Log-on to hurricanesports.com for the latest Miami women’s tennis news, results and statistics.
