Miami's Vallverdu and Farah Enter ITA Doubles Top 20
March 18, 2008
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Sophomore All-American Laura Vallverdu and senior Romy Farah moved into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Top 20 in doubles play and the University of Miami women’s tennis team remained No. 12 nationally in the latest ITA poll released Tuesday.
Vallverdu and Farah, sliding into the Top 20 this week at No. 19, have teamed to go 6-4 in UM’s top doubles position in dual match play, with wins in four of their last five decisions. The pair moved up from No. 24 after beating Florida State’s top team March 3 in Tallahassee before taking out Clemson’s then-No. 12 team of Ani Mijacika and Carol Salge, 8-6, March 7 in Coral Gables.
The Hurricanes, who have been consistently ranked between No. 7 and No. 12 all season, remain one of five ACC teams in the Top 15 as UM moves into the second half of its spring season.
In the new singles rankings, Vallverdu moved up one spot from No. 22 to No. 21, leading four Hurricanes among the nation’s elite. Freshman Michaela Kissell made the biggest leap of the four, moving from No. 60 to No. 49, while Farah jumped from No. 83-to-No. 73 and freshman Bianca Eichkorn moved back into the rankings at No. 104.
Vallverdu continues to be the catalyst for the Hurricanes at the top of the UM’s singles lineup, winning seven of her last eight in that spot. During that stretch, Vallverdu has wins over four opponents in the Top 40, including an impressive 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over No. 2 Georgia Tech’s Kristi Miller, ranked as the No. 5 singles player at the time.
Kissell has gone 9-2 in dual match play this spring, spending the majority of her time in the Hurricanes’ No. 3 position while Eichkorn sits 6-3 in the No. 4 position and 19-7 overall.
Farah, who also ranked No. 55 in doubles play with senior Caren Seenauth, is 18-8 overall in singles play and 5-5 in UM’s No. 2 spot.
Northwestern remains the top-ranked team nationally while Georgia Tech, Baylor, Florida and Stanford round out the ITA Top 5. Georgia, Cal, UCLA, Duke and Southern Cal round-out the Top 10 while Vanderbilt sits just ahead of Miami at No. 11. The `Canes have either played or will play five of the current Top 10 teams at some point during their regular season.
UM is preparing for its second ACC road weekend this season after an off-week last week. The `Canes will take on No. 50 Virginia Saturday, March 22 at 12 p.m. in Charlottesville before heading to Blacksburg the following day to battle No. 47 Virginia Tech Sunday, March 23 at 12 p.m.
