Four Hurricanes Ranked In Latest ITA Rankings
Feb. 20, 2008
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – In the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Rankings released Wednesday, sophomore Laura Vallverdu leads a group of four University of Miami women’s tennis players currently ranked among the Top 80 players in the country this spring. Vallverdu moved up from No. 29 to No. 14 after starting the spring 10-2 at the top position for the Hurricanes, who are currently 6-2 and ranked 10th as a team in this week’s rankings.
Vallverdu has defeated two Top 15 opponents in her last three matches, beating Cal’s Susie Babos, the 2006 NCAA Singles Champion, at the ITA Indoors, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, before knocking off Baylor’s then-No. 15 Zuzana Zemenova, 6-3, 6-2 this past weekend in Coral Gables.
Behind Vallverdu, UM has a pair of freshmen entering the rankings for the first time in their careers, with Bianca Eichkorn ranked 62nd and Michaela Kissell ranked 70th. Eichkorn leads the Hurricanes with 17 overall wins this season, playing mostly in the team’s No. 4 spot this spring while Kissell is riding a 10-match win streak, mostly at the No. 3 position, to open the spring season.
Senior Romy Farah also jumps into the rankings at No. 80 after opening the spring season with a mark of 9-3 in the `Canes second position.
Farah is also a part of UM’s two ranked doubles teams. The team of Farah and Caren Seenauth is currently ranked No. 31 after going 10-6 as a duo this fall. This spring, Farah has paired up Vallverdu to go 7-3 in UM’s top spot to earn a ranking of 35th nationally.
Georgia Tech remains atop the ITA team rankings, followed by Northwestern, Stanford, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, UCLA, Baylor, Duke and UM in the Top 10.
The Atlantic Coast Conference leads all conferences with seven teams currently ranked in the Top 25. In addition to Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Duke and Miami the conference also has Wake Forest (19), Florida State (20) and Clemson (24) among the nation’s elite.
Clemson’s Ani Mijacika is currently the top-ranked singles player in the country while Fresno State’s team of Tinesta Rowe and Melanie Gloria currently sit atop the doubles rankings.
The Hurricanes will host No. 47 Wichita State Saturday, Feb. 23 at 12 p.m. at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in their final non-conference match of the regular season. Next week, Miami will open ACC play at in-state rival Florida State Friday, Feb. 29 at 3 p.m.
