No. 11 Miami Looks To Extend Winning Streak This Weekend
April 11, 2008
CORAL GABLES, <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Fla. – The 11th-ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team will look to improve on its five-match winning streak when the Hurricanes wrap up their regular season schedule at No. 45 NC State and No. 35 Wake Forest this weekend in North Carolina.
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For the second time in as many weekends, the Hurricanes will be playing on back-to-back days when they take on NC State Saturday in Raleigh at the J.W.IsenhourTennisCenter before making the short trip west to battle WakeForest the following day in Winston-Salem at Leighton Stadium.
Miami, fresh off two convincing wins at BostonCollege and Maryland, comes into the weekend with a record of 13-4 overall and 6-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Currently third in the league behind Georgia Tech (8-1) and Duke (7-2), the Hurricanes – who remained No. 11 in the ITA rankings for a second straight week — will be in search of their third road sweep in the last four weeks as teams jockey for position in the standings before next week’s ACC Tournament.
The Hurricanes, who have been ranked anywhere from seventh to 14th nationally this year, will be playing for an opportunity to earn a first-round bye in the conference tournament for the fourth consecutive season. UM will also be looking to win at least eight conference matches in every year it has been in the league, with two, possibly three – if the suspended match with North Carolina is able to be completed – regular season league contests remaining.
Both of this weekend’s matches are slated for 12 p.m.
Yaroshuk-Tews Ties Wins Mark
Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews, in her seventh season at the helm of the women’s tennis program, tied the school record for wins by a head coach when she won her 131st game on Sunday in UM’s 6-1 win over Maryland in College Park. Yaroshuk Tews, who took over the UM women’s program in 2001-02, owns a career record of 131-41 (.761) and became the first head coach in school history last year to win at least 20 games for four straight seasons. With one more win this weekend, she will pass former head coach Ian Duvenhage (131-44) to become the school’s all-time winningest coach.
Lau Leading the Way
A great amount of Miami’s success this season can be credited to sophomore All-American Laura Vallverdu, who continues to carry the Hurricanes from the No. 1 singles position. Having won 12 of her last 13 matches overall and seven of eight against No. 1 players in the ACC, Vallverdu (25-8) has consistently been one of the top players in the country this season. This past weekend, Vallverdu — ranked 20th by the ITA — became just the sixth player in school history to win 25 singles matches in back-to-back seasons. Some of her biggest wins in singles play this year include victories over No. 10 Susie Babos of Cal, No. 15 Zuzana Zemenova of Baylor and No. 5 Kristi Miller of Georgia Tech.
ACC in the Rankings
The ACC continues to have nine teams ranked within the ITA Top 50 and six teams within the Top 25. No. 2 Georgia Tech, No. 9 Duke, No. 11 UM and No. 13 UNC continue to give the league four dominant teams among the nation’s elite, with the foursome owning a combined record of 57-18 in dual match play this season. No. 19 FloridaState, No. 21 Clemson, No. 35 Wake Forest, No. 45 NC State and No. 48 Virginia make the conference arguably the deepest in the country.
About NC State
The Wolfpack, who have lost three of their last four matches, come into the weekend with a record of 11-8 overall and 4-5 in ACC play. After back-to-back wins against Boston College and Maryland, March 22-24, NC State has struggled through the toughest part of its schedule, dropping two 7-0 matches to Georgia Tech and Clemson before losing to North Carolina, 6-1, and beating Wake Forest, 5-2, this past weekend. Daria Petrovic has spent the majority of the season in NC State’s top singles position, going 4-9 in dual match play while Berkeley Brock has split six matches there when Petrovic moves down to No. 2. The Wolfpack’s most successful position is at No. 4, where four players have combined to go 12-7 in dual match play.
About WakeForest
The Demon Deacons, who will face FloridaState on Friday before hosting UM, currently own a record of 8-10 overall and 4-5 in league matches. After winning its first four matches in ACC play, WakeForest has lost five straight, including losses to No. 15 North Carolina and No. 50 NC State this past weekend. Alex Hirsch is 3-11 in Wake’s top singles spot this year while Sasha Kulikova, who is also 2-2 in the No. 1 position, has an impressive mark of 12-2 at No. 2 in dual match play. The team’s top doubles position is at No. 2, where the Demon Deacons have a mark of 9-8.
All-Time Series
Miami is a combined 14-1 against this weekend’s opponents, having won all five meetings all-time against NC State and nine of 10 against WakeForest. Last season in Coral Gables, Miami shutout then-No. 14 Wake Forest, 7-0, before taking out No. 38 NC State, 6-1.
Up Next
Miami will head to Altamonte Springs, Fla. next week for the 2008 ACC Tennis Championships at SanlandoPark, April 17-20. All 12 ACC teams will participate in the annual tournament, with the top four teams from the regular season receiving an opening round bye. First round action begins Thursday, April 17 at 9 a.m.
