Vallverdu Advances at NCAA Men's Tennis Championships
May 21, 2008
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Tulsa, Okla… The University of Miami’s fifth-seeded Daniel Vallverdu knocked off Texas A&M’s No. 25 Conor Pollock, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday afternoon to advance to the second round of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships at the University of Tulsa’s MichaelD.CaseTennisCenter. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
Vallverdu (29-8), who has won six of his last seven matches that have reached a decision, took the early 3-1 lead in the first set before falling 7-5 to Pollock. But the four-time All-American used early leads in the next two sets – including a dominating 5-0 lead in the decisive third set – to power past Pollock to advance to the second round of NCAA singles competition for the second-straight year.
“It took me a while to get going and get used to the court,” said Vallverdu. “But I felt pretty good at the end of the match, and I’m looking forward to my next round.”
Vallverdu’s 29 singles wins this season ranks eighth best in Miami history, while his 72 career wins is 11th.
The junior advances to Thursday’s Round of 32 to face host Tulsa’s 18th-ranked Arnau Brugues (21-9) at 1 p.m. (EST), who advances courtesy of a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 26 Michael Venus of LSU.
Vallverdu will be doing double duty on Thursday, as he and freshman Carl Sundberg are among 32 duos scheduled to open NCAA doubles competition. The UM pair (24-8) will square off versus TCU’s 50th-ranked Kriegler Brink and Cosmin Cotet (16-7) at 6:30 p.m. The winning duo advances to Friday’s Round of 16 to face the winner of the match between Ole Miss’ 21st-ranked Bram ten Berge/Matthias Wellerman and William & Mary’s 36th-ranked Alexandru Cojanu/Keziel Juneau.
Because of their seedings, both Vallverdu and Sundberg have already earned All-America recognition for this season – making Vallverdu just the third four-time All-American in UM history, while Sundberg earns his first All-America honors in his first collegiate season.
