Tenth-Ranked Hurricanes Open ACC Play Friday At FSU
Feb. 28, 2008
CORAL GABLES, Fla. –The 10th-ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team heads to Tallahassee this weekend in search of its seventh straight win over in-state rival Florida State when the Hurricanes and Seminoles open Atlantic Coast Conference play Friday at 3 p.m. at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center.
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The ‘Canes, who come in with a record of 7-2 this spring, will be looking for their fourth-straight win in an ACC opener, having beaten Virginia Tech in the team’s first year in the league and FSU the last two seasons. The 20th-ranked Seminoles enter the match with a record of 8-1 overall, with all eight wins coming at home this season and its lone loss coming at No. 5 Florida, Feb. 20. Both teams enter the match having won easily over ranked opponents their last time out, with <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Miami beating No. 47 Wichita State, 6-1, Feb. 23 and FSU downing No. 35 LSU, 5-2, Feb. 24.
Friday’s match will mark UM’s eighth against a Top 50 opponent and fifth against one ranked inside the Top 25. Through the season’s first month, the Hurricanes have gone 2-2 against Top 15 opposition, with wins over No. 13 William & Mary and No. 7 Cal and its only losses thus far coming against No. 1 Stanford and No. 10 Baylor.
Hurricanes in the Rankings
In the most recent ITA singles rankings released Feb. 20, three Hurricanes joined No. 14 Laura Vallverdu among the nation’s Top 80 players. For the first time in their careers, two freshmen entered the rankings with Bianca Eichkorn coming in at No. 62 and Michaela Kissell entering the rankings at No. 70. Eichkorn is currently tied with Vallverdu for a team-leading 18 wins overall this season, playing mostly in the team’s No. 4 spot while Kissell is riding an 11-match win streak, mostly at the No. 3 position, to open the spring season. Senior Romy Farah also jumped into the rankings at No. 80 after opening the spring season with wins in her first eight matches.
Success at Three
One constant for the Hurricanes this spring has been success in the No. 3 singles position, with Michaela Kissell, Romy Farah and Bianca Eichkorn combining to go a perfect 8-0 in that spot to open the dual match season. After Eichkorn opened the season with a win over FAU in the third position, Kissell (5-0) and Farah (2-0) have combined to keep UM unblemished at No. 3.
Lau at No. 1
In her first spring in UM’s No. 1 position, sophomore All-American Laura Vallverdu has opened the season with an impressive mark of 11-2 as the Hurricanes’ go-to player. Vallverdu, who moved up from No. 29 to No. 14 in the most recent ITA rankings released last week, comes into Friday’s match having won five straight, three of which came against Top 40 opponents. At the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships Feb. 7-10 in Madison, Wis., Vallverdu won back-to-back matches against No. 39 Lindsay Burdette of No. 1 Stanford and No. 10 Susie Babos, the 2006 NCAA Singles champion, of No. 7 Cal. Last weekend at home, she won impressively over No. 15 Zuzana Zemenova of No. 10 Baylor, 6-3, 6-2.
About FSU
The Seminoles are led at the top by No. 46 Katie Rybakova, Lauren Macfarlane and Carolin Walter. Her last time out, Rybakova lost to LSU’s No. 15 Megan Falcon in the No. 1 spot, 7-5, 6-3 while Macfarlane beat Mykala Hedberg, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2. Carolin Walter also won her most recent match at No. 3, but lost No. 1 doubles with Rybakova to Falcon and Hedberg, 8-3.
Up Next for UM
Following Friday’s match against the Seminoles, the Hurricanes will return to Coral Gables and begin preparation for their first ACC home weekend, March 7-9. UM will play host to No. 24 Clemson Friday, March 7 at 12 p.m. before the `Canes battle No. 2 Georgia Tech Sunday, March 9 at 12 p.m.
