D'Agord and Vallverdu Advance at NCAA Men's Tennis Championship
Updated NCAA Singles Bracket
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Updated NCAA Doubles Bracket
May 23, 2007
Athens, Ga. – Senior Luigi D’Agord (Freeport, Bahamas) and sophomore Daniel Vallverdu (Valencia, Venezuela) of the University of Miami men’s tennis team each won opening-round singles matches at the NCAA Championship on Wednesday to advance to Thursday’s Round of 32 at the University of Georgia’s Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
“Danny beat one of the best players in the country,” noted third-year Miami head coach Mario Rincon. “His forehand is getting more powerful, and his transition game is better. He was aggressive on the big points, and just really played a great match today.
“Although Luigi got off to a slow start, he was able to put it together in the end. I’m really proud of both of them.”
Vallverdu (25-9) got the Hurricanes off to a strong start in Wednesday’s Round of 64, upending Baylor’s 9-16 seed Lars Poerschke (25-9), 7-5, 7-6, in a tough-fought match. The 53rd-ranked sophomore came from behind in the second set to overtake Baylor’s 11th-ranked junior to advance to Thursday’s Round of 32.
Vallverdu will take on Oklahoma State’s 30th-ranked Ivan Puchkarov (28-8) at 1:30 p.m., who advanced courtesy of a 6-3, 6-4 win over Southern California’s No. 36 Jamil Al-Agba. It will be the second meeting of the season between Vallverdu and Puchkarov, with Vallverdu previously cruising to the 6-0, 6-3 victory on February 17 at the ITA Indoor National Championship versus the then-third ranked player.
“I felt very strong on the court today,” said Vallverdu. “I’m really happy about my match because Poerschke is a solid player. I want to keep it going. This is a great tournament, and I’m enjoying it very much.”
D’Agord (26-4), who is seeded eighth of 64 participants, rebounded from a tough 6-4 first-set loss, to claim the next two sets, 6-3, 6-1, to knock off South Alabama’s 51st-ranked junior Marek Sramek (28-4). The two-time ACC Player of the Year advances to the Round of 32 and will take on Michigan’s No. 50 Matko Maravic at noon, who defeated host Georgia’s No. 35 Matic Omerzel, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. As a Hurricane, D’Agord is 2-0 versus Maravic, including a 6-3, 6-0 straight-sets victory in D’Agord’s 2007 debut at the UM Spring Invitational on January 13.
“First rounds are always tough, and I’m happy I got through it,” commented D’Agord. “I’m looking forward to playing my next match.”
D’Agord will also compete in the NCAA doubles competition with senior Josh Cohen (Weston, Fla./Laurel Springs). The 5-8 seeded duo (20-7) takes on Texas Tech’s tandem of Christian Rojmar and Bojan Szumanski (9-6) on Thursday at 6 p.m. The winner of that doubles match advances to Friday’s Round of 16 to face the winner of the match between NC State’s Nick Cavaday/William Noblitt and Mississippi’s Eric Claesson/Erling Tveit. D’Agord and Cohen cruised past Cavaday and Noblitt, 8-2, during ACC regular-season competition in Raleigh on April 5.
Live stats for all NCAA matches and live web streaming of select matches are available online at www.georgiadogs.com.
