UM Women's Tennis Ranked 14th In Latest ITA Poll

March 25, 2008

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Coming off a pair of road victories this past weekend, the University of Miami women’s tennis team is ranked 14th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll released Tuesday. The Hurricanes, who will host a pair of Top 15 teams in No. 6 Duke and No. 12 North Carolina this weekend, are one of 10 Atlantic Coast Conference teams ranked within the ITA Top 50.

Miami improved to 10-4 overall and 3-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play with a sweep of the conference’s two teams from the state of Virginia over the weekend, beating then-No. 50 Virginia, 6-1, in Charlottesville on Saturday before picking up a 4-3 win at No. 47 Virginia Tech on Sunday.

Northwestern remains the top-ranked team nationally with Baylor, Georgia Tech, Florida and Stanford rounding out the Top 5. Behind Duke at No. 6, California, UCLA, Georgia and Southern Cal make up teams seven through 10 with Vanderbilt, UNC, Arkansas, UM and Arizona State coming in 11 through 15.

Sophomore All-American Laura Vallverdu, currently the 21st-ranked singles player in the country, continues to lead four Hurricanes in the ITA singles rankings. Freshman Michaela Kissell moved up 11 spots last week to No. 49, while senior Romy Farah and freshman Bianca Eichkorn rank 73rd and 104th respectively.

UM’s two ranked doubles teams both include Farah. When she teams with Vallverdu, the duo plays as the No. 19 team in the country and when she is paired up with fellow senior Caren Seenauth, they rank as the 55th-ranked pair nationally.

The Hurricanes will play host to Duke Friday, March 28 at 6 p.m. and North Carolina Sunday, March 30 at 12 p.m. UM’s three seniors – Farah, Seenauth and Gina Sabatino – will be honored prior to Sunday’s match against the Tar Heels as UM wraps up its regular season home schedule. Both matches are free to the public.