Nationally-Ranked Hurricanes Ready For '08 Campaign
Jan. 15, 2008
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – As classes resume this week on the University of Miami campus, the UM women’s tennis team is focused not only on a new semester in the classroom, but the upcoming 2008 season that opens this weekend in Ft. Myers at the FGCU/Johan Kriek Classic, Jan. 19-21. Seventh-year head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews leads the Hurricanes, who return five lettermen and welcome three newcomers, as the team embarks on its fourth season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Preseason Ranking
The `Canes, who finished the 2007 season ranked as the No. 9 team in the country after reaching the NCAA quarterfinal round for the third time in four years, enter the 2008 season ranked as the No. 11 team in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The ACC has a conference-high seven teams ranked in the Top-25, including two Top-10 teams in No. 1 Georgia Tech and No. 10 Clemson, in addition to the 11th-ranked `Canes, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 17 Duke, No. 20 Florida State and No. 21 Wake Forest.
In the player rankings, sophomore All-American Laura Vallverdu enters the season as the nation’s No. 29 singles player while the doubles tandem of Caren Seenauth and Romy Farah opens as the No. 48 doubles teams in the country.
Replacing Cohen and Bañada
Gone are two the University of Miami women’s tennis program’s most successful players. Audra Cohen, a two-time ITA National Player of the Year and 2007 NCAA Singles champion, opted to turn pro after her junior season leaving the No. 1 position vacant in 2008. Audrey Bañada, the most winningest player in the program’s history in singles and doubles competition, is back in 2008 but as a volunteer assistant coach after her eligibility ran out last season.
Yaroshuk-Tews will look to Vallverdu to take over the No. 1 position with a pair of seniors filling in the next few spots. Vallverdu, who despite battling through injuries, went 32-3 as a freshman and was ranked as high as the No. 6 player in the country heading into the 2007 spring season.
“Laura is without question one of the most talented players in all of college tennis and her future is going to be very bright for the University of Miami,” Yaroshuk-Tews said.
Behind Vallverdu, Yaroshuk-Tews has several options to fill the next few spots. Seniors Farah and Seenauth, who had a great fall season as a doubles pair, have the ability and experience to step up in their final season at UM and join Vallverdu at the top of the lineup.
“I have full confidence that Romy will step into a top spot in our singles lineup and respond in a very impressive manner,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “Caren has also really stepped up as a senior and showed an incredible amount of maturity and commitment to the University of Miami and to our program. She has improved so much over the course of the last three years and as long as she is able to keep her focus in these tough dual-match situations, she is going to be real successful.”
Focused Freshmen
Freshman Bianca Eichkorn really impressed the coaching staff in her first semester on campus, tying teammate Claudia Wasilewski for a team-best 10 wins in the fall season. She joins Farah and Seenauth behind Vallverdu, giving the `Canes talented depth into the middle positions.
“She has the tenacity of someone many years older than herself. Just being a freshman, she has played so hard and she is so smart on the court,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “She sets up her points so well and attacks the openings. She is going to be successful in the middle to upper portion of our lineup this season.”
Michaela Kissell, who finished the fall season with a record of 3-3 after spending the semester rehabbing from minor surgery, should be close to 100 percent entering the spring season.
“She has such an upside, she plays such an aggressive style of tennis and she is so fit,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “She is the hardest worker I’ve ever had at Miami and I’ve never seen a hard worker fail in sports.”
Deeper Lineup
Yaroshuk-Tews feels this team has the right mix of youth and experience on the roster this season and it should show up with talented players filling positions throughout the lineup. In addition to the leadership and experience Seenauth brings to the table, fellow senior Gina Sabatino, a former transfer from Boston University and 30-match winner last season for UM, brings stability and an ability to be a game-changer.
“She just plays a style of tennis that has a way of just driving her opponents crazy,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “She has an incredible amount of tenacity and fight and she lays her heart out on the line for the University of Miami. Last year that style of play won her a lot of big matches in high-pressure situations and I know she is excited to bring that back to the table once again this year.”
Wasilewski, who had an impressive fall season, going 10-2 with a pair of second flight championships at the ITA South Regional and the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational, will look to build upon her play over the last few months and carry it over into the spring.
“Claudia had an exceptional fall semester, she won a ton of matches and I think her confidence is really up there right now,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “It is going to be really exciting to see Claudia competing for our team this year.”
Osborne Added To Roster
Jenna Osborne, a freshman from Western Cape, South Africa, has enrolled in classes this spring and joins the team for this upcoming season. Osborne, ranked as the No. 8 player in South Africa at the Under-14 level, the Under-16 level and the Under-18 level, comes to Coral Gables after having only lost one singles dual match and one doubles dual match her final two seasons at the prep level.
“We are real excited to have Jenna join the team in the spring,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “Once she is able to make the transition into college, on and off the court, I have no doubt she will have a positive impact on our team and play an important role in our lineup in the future.”
Osborne will likely enter the season in the lower half of UM’s lineup, adding depth to an already deep group of players returning from the fall.
