Women's Tennis Ranked Seventh In New ITA Rankings
Feb. 12, 2008
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Fresh off a pair of Top-15 wins and its fourth straight quarterfinal appearance at the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wis. this past weekend, the University of Miami women’s tennis team moved up from ninth to seventh in the latest ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings announced Tuesday.
The Hurricanes (5-1) opened the tournament with a 4-1 win over No. 13 William & Mary on Thursday and after a hard-fought 4-3 defeat at the hands of No. 1 Stanford, the Hurricanes bounced back with a 4-3 win over No. 7 California in quarterfinal consolation action Saturday.
Freshman Michaela Kissell was named to the 2008 the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships All-Tournament Team Monday for her stellar play in Madison. Playing in UM’s No. 3 singles position, Kissell won all three of her matches against opponents from No. 1 Stanford, No. 7 California and No. 13 William & Mary. She opened the tournament with a convincing 6-2, 6-1 win over No. 55 Ragini Acharya of William & Mary on Thursday before picking up a 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over the Cardinal’s Hilary Barte. On Saturday Kissell won her ninth-straight match to open the season with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Cristina Visico of Cal.
No. 29 Laura Vallverdu also had a big weekend for the `Canes, picking up a pair of wins over Top-40 opponents in UM’s top position. Vallverdu ended the week with a crucial 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Cal’s Susie Babos, the 2006 NCAA singles champion and current No. 10 player in the country. Prior to her win over Babos, Vallverdu beat No. 39 Lindsay Burdette of No. 1 Stanford, 1-6, 6-2, 7-4 on Friday.
After defeating Northwestern, 4-2, in Sunday’s final in Madison, Georgia Tech moved to the top of the rankings, replacing last week’s top-ranked team in Stanford.
Northwestern ranks second behind the Yellow Jackets while Stanford, Georgia and North Carolina round out the Top 5. Florida ranks one spot ahead of UM at No. 6 while UCLA, Baylor and Southern Cal round out the Top 10.
The Atlantic Coast Conference leads all conferences with seven teams currently ranked in the Top 25. In addition to No. 1 Georgia Tech, No. 5 North Carolina and No. 7 UM, the league is also represented by Duke (15), Clemson (18), Wake Forest (20) and Florida State (22).
The Hurricanes return to Coral Gables this week when they play host to in-state foe UCF Saturday, Feb. 16 at 12 p.m. and No. 10 Baylor Sunday, Feb. 17 at 11 a.m.
