Vallverdu Earns Automatic Bid to ITA National Indoors
Oct. 17, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla. –University of Miami sophomore Laura Vallverdu has earned an automatic bid to participate in the ITA National Indoor Championships, the nation’s most prominent event of the fall season, Nov. 2-4 in Columbus, Ohio.
Vallverdu, who qualified for the event by reaching the quarterfinals of the Riviera/ITA All American Main Draw Championships, will be a part of a field that features the top collegiate players from across the county.
Two weeks ago in Los Angeles, Vallverdu advanced through the first two rounds of the main draw before falling in the quarterfinal round in a close, hard-fought match with Georgia Tech’s Amanda McDowell. After defeating UCLA’s Tracy Lin, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round and Vanderbilt’s Amanda Taylor, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round, Vallverdu advanced into the field’s final eight before being edged out by McDowell, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (9).
Vallverdu, ranked 14th in the country by the ITA heading into this season, is coming off one of the best freshman seasons in UM history finishing the 2006-07 campaign with a stellar 32-4 singles record. After compiling a singles’ record of 19-2 in the fall of 2006, Vallverdu earned a national No. 6 ranking heading into the spring season, the highest ranking of any freshman. She never fell out of the top 25 at any point during her freshman campaign, ending the season ranked No. 19 by the ITA. Playing mostly in the No. 2 singles position, Vallverdu began her career winning 29 of her first 31 matches, establishing herself as one of the top freshmen in the country.
She was also named to the 2007 All-ACC team, the 2007 All-ACC Academic Team and to the 2007 NCAA All-Tournament Team. She also advanced to the round of 32 at the ITA South Regional Championships and earned an at-large bid for the 2007 NCAA Singles Championships where she fell to Vanderbilt’s Catherine Newman, 6-4, 6-3, in first round action.
Vallverdu and her teammates are currently preparing for this upcoming weekend’s ITA Regionals in Athens, Ga. The event, hosted by the University of Georgia, begins Saturday, Oct. 20 and runs through Tuesday, Oct. 23 and features the top teams in the Southeast region.
