Men's Tennis Sends Three to NCAA Championships
May 2, 2007
2007 NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles & Doubles Field
Coral Gables, Fla. – The No. 34 University of Miami men’s tennis team continues to earn postseason invitations, as two singles players and one doubles pair has been selected by the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Subcommittee to compete in the 2007 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships from May 23-28 at the University of Georgia’s Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
Ninth-ranked senior Luigi D’Agord (Freeport, Bahamas) and No. 53 Daniel Vallverdu (Valencia, Venezuela) are among the 64 student-athletes selected to compete in the individual competition, while the fifth-ranked doubles tandem of D’Agord and senior Josh Cohen (Weston, Fla./Laurel Springs) is among 34 duos slated to compete in the doubles competition.
“I’m very, very happy that we are represented in both the singles and doubles championships,” said third-year head coach Mario Rincon, who has sent at least one Hurricane to the NCAA Championships in each season he has been at the helm. “I think we have a legitimate chance to do extremely well in this tournament.
“I think it’s great that Danny [Vallverdu] was selected to compete individually. He is only a sophomore after all, and this will be a valuable experience for him. And of course I’m thrilled for the seniors – Josh and Luigi – and the fact they will have a chance to wrap up their collegiate careers in this tournament.”
The singles and doubles competition kicks off following the conclusion of NCAA team competition. The Hurricanes open team play on Friday, May 11, versus No. 25 Tennessee in Columbus, Ohio.
D’Agord, the reigning ACC Player of the Year for the second-straight season, will enter the postseason seeded in both singles and doubles play. He has compiled a 24-4 overall record this season and is 8-4 versus singles players in the NCAA field, including a 6-1 mark versus at-large players and a 2-3 mark versus seeded players. In 2006, D’Agord earned All-America honors in both singles and doubles play, advancing to the “Sweet 16” individually and to the quarterfinals in doubles action with Vallverdu.
Vallverdu, who earned All-America distinction in doubles play in 2006, will make his first appearance in singles play at the NCAA Championships this season, earning an at-large invitation. He put together a 23-9 record in 2007 and is 2-3 versus the NCAA field, including a 1-0 mark over seeded players.
Cohen, the winningest Hurricane ever with a combined 169 wins over his four-year Miami career, and D’Agord enter doubles competition seeded after putting together a 20-6 record this season, including a 4-6 mark against doubles teams in the NCAA field.
Miami sends three of the ACC’s 13 representative to the NCAA Championships, tying Virginia as the teams with the most student-athletes advancing, as both the `Canes and Cavaliers send a pair of singles players and one doubles team.
