Cohen and Banada Advance to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Singles Championships
May 23, 2007
Coral Gables, Fla. – Top-seeded junior Audra Cohen and forty-eighth-ranked senior Audrey Banada topped their opponents Wednesday evening in the First Round of the 2007 NCAA Women’s Singles Championships held on the campus of the University of Georgia.
Cohen swept Georgia’s Monika Dancevic, who is ranked thirty-second, in the first set 6-0, before the Georgia Bulldog went up two games to nothing over Cohen at the start of the second set. After Cohen went on a three-game run ahead of Dancevic, 3-2, the Plantation, Fla. native could only put up one more game before her opponent stretched the lead to win the second set at 6-4. In the final set, Dancevic again went ahead 2-0. However, on her home-court the sophomore could not put an end to Cohen’s six-game run, as the lady Hurricane finished 6-2, to capture the match-victory. Cohen will face Diana Serbovic of Florida in tomorrow’s Round of 32.
Earlier in the day, Banada posted an upset over forty-fourth-ranked Imke Reimers of Nebraska. The first set saw a close finish, as Banada finished out 7-5 before shutting down the junior Cornhusker 6-0 in the final set. Banada will take on fourth-seed Lindsey Nelson of Southern California in the Round 32 tomorrow.
No. 23 freshman Laura Vallverdu fell to No. 51Catherine Newman of Vanderbilt, 4-6, 3-6 in the first round.
Miami will commence first-round doubles action tomorrow as Cohen and Vallverdu, ranked seventeenth nationally, look to capture the win over Stanford’s 21st-ranked Lindsay Burdette and Anne Yesley. The Hurricane duo will try to capture the doubles victory this time after Sunday’s team quarterfinal match resulted in a close unfinished finally. Twenty-third-ranked doubles duo, Banada and junior Romy Farah, will partner-up again for the first time since April 7th of the dual season, to take on fourth-seed Ana Cetnik and Anna Sydorska of Texas Christian University.
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