Miami Tennis Posts Their Second Consecutive Sweep of the Weekend as they Downed Virginia, 7-0 in ACC Action
April 1, 2007
Coral Gables, Fla. – The ninth ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team swept Atlantic Coast Conference opponent, forty-ninth ranked Virginia, 7-0 this afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center to improve to 15-3 overall on the dual season, and 6-1 in conference play. The Cavaliers fell 8-8 overall and 2-5 in the ACC.
With the match set to begin an hour earlier than originally scheduled, and players competing on courts that they are not usually appointed to, it never got in the way of Miami’s momentum as all three doubles and each of the six singles players posted wins, marking the Hurricanes’ second sweep of the weekend and sixth overall on the dual season.
Back at the No. 1 spot in doubles, No. 22 ranked duo Audrey Banada and Romy Farah defeated Maggie Yahner and Britney Larson 8-3. Banada and Farah are 13-4 overall and 3-3 in the ACC. No. 24 ranked Audra Cohen and Caren Seenauth posted their 12th doubles win after downing Jennifer Stevens and Amanda Rales 8-4. Senior Emily Mowery competed in her first doubles match in conference action as she and junior Gina Sabatino held their opponents, Caroline Hammond and Lindsey Pereira, to just one game to help Miami post their second sweep of the weekend in doubles of with a score of 8-1.
No. 1 ranked Cohen captured her second singles defeat of the weekend at the No. 1 slot. The junior is currently three matches shy of posting 30 victories in singles play as she improved her season record to 27-1 overall. She remains unbeaten in the dual season and the ACC with 17 consecutive victories and seven overall wins respectively. The Plantation, Fla. native defeated Miami native freshman Jennifer Stevens 6-1 in the first set, then swept the board at 6-0 in the second.
Junior Caren Seenauth was the second player to put up a solid win in singles as she downed her opponent Caroline Hammond 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 6 position, while junior Gina Sabatino defeated Amanda Rales, 6-4, 7-5 at the No. 4 position.
Over on court #4, thirty-eighth ranked senior Audrey Banada did not allow her opponent, sophomore Maggie Yahner, to get past three games in the first set taking her down 6-3, and only held her to one game in the second, to finish with a score of 6-1, clinching the match for the Hurricanes.
Court #2 saw junior Romy Farah defeat Britney Larson 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 3 spot.
All of the attention soon shifted toward court #3 as No. 16 ranked freshman Laura Vallverdu battled it out in her first singles match since February 3, against junior Lindsey Pereira. The Tenerife, Spain native captured the first set 6-1, before it turned into a back-and forth set in the second with both players battling for the lead. Vallverdu registered a brief sweep at 4-0 early before Pereira tacked on a one game of her own. As the match continued, both players moved the score up to 5-5. The Virginia opponent tacked on her final game to put the score at 6-5, but she could not stop the intensity of Vallverdu, as the rookie quickly moved ahead to capture the win at 7-6. Vallverdu is on a 13-match win streak, not losing a match since October 20 of the 2006 fall season. She is currently 5-0 on the dual season.
Miami will get back into action as they travel to the state of North Carolina, where they will take on the Blue Devils of Duke Friday, April 6 at noon. The following day, the Hurricanes will face the Tar Heels of North Carolina Saturday, April 7 beginning at 11 a.m.
Fans can watch the Miami vs. UNC match live online through ACC Select on www.accselect.com. This online video stream is presented by the Atlantic Coast Conference in partnership with Raycom Sports and Lincoln Financial Sports.
Tennis Match Results
University of Virginia vs. University of Miami
Singles competition
1. #1 Audra Cohen (UM) def. Jennifer Stevens (UVA) 6-1, 6-0
2. #38 Audrey Banada (UM) def. Maggie Yahner (UVA) 6-3, 6-1
3. Romy Farah (UM) def. Britney Larson (UVA) 6-3, 6-4
4. Gina Sabatino (UM) def. Amanda Rales (UVA) 6-4, 7-5
5. #16 Laura Vallverdu (UM) def. Lindsey Pereira (UVA) 6-1, 7-6
6. Caren Seenauth (UM) def. Caroline Hammond (UVA) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #22 Audrey Banada/Romy Farah (UM) def. Maggie Yahner/Britney Larson (UVA) 8-3
2. #24 Audra Cohen/Caren Seenauth (UM) def. Jennifer Stevens/Amanda Rales (UVA) 8-4
3. Gina Sabatino/Emily Mowery (UM) def. Caroline Hammond/Lindsey Pereira (UVA) 8-1
