No. 11 Women's Tennis Opens Home Season Friday

Jan. 24, 2008

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The No. 11 University of Miami women’s tennis team opens the dual match portion of its season Friday at 2 p.m. when the Hurricanes play host to Florida Atlantic University in the team’s home-opener at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

Miami opened the spring portion of its schedule last week at the FGCU/Johan Kriek Classic, with the team going 23-4 in singles play and a near-perfect 11-1 in doubles action.

The `Canes are led by All-American sophomore Laura Vallverdu, ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) as the No. 29 singles player in the country heading into the spring season. Vallverdu went a combined 7-0 last weekend in Fort Myers, going 4-0 at the No. 1 singles position and 3-0 in the No.1 doubles spot alongside teammate Romy Farah. Farah also enjoyed a perfect weekend, finishing with a 4-0 mark in the No. 2 singles position.

The Owls enter the match with a record of 0-2 after falling to Illinois, 7-0, Jan. 12 and No. 29 USF, 6-0, the following day.

UM will remain at home next weekend when it hosts a pair ranked opponents in No. 31 Florida International on Saturday, Feb. 2 and No. 23 Michigan on Sunday, Feb. 3. The match against FIU is scheduled for 11 a.m. while the contest against the Wolverines is slated for 10 a.m.

Admission is free for all home matches at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.