Women's Tennis Players Prepare for ITA Summer Championships
Aug. 10, 2008
Coral Gables, Fla. – University of Miami All-American women’s tennis player Laura Vallverdu and teammate Michaela Kissell will participate in this week’s ITA National Summer Championships beginning Monday, Aug. 11 at the University of Indiana Varsity Tennis Center in Bloomington, Ind.
The International Tennis Association (ITA) National Summer Championships presented by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) are the pinnacle of the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, which was played at 26 regional sites throughout the country in July.
A two-time All-American and All-ACC performer on the court, Vallverdu won 31 matches in the No. 1 singles position for the Hurricanes during the 2007-08 season, becoming just the third player in program history to have recorded at least 30 singles wins in back-to-back seasons. Through her sophomore year, Vallverdu has more career singles wins (63) than any player in UM history. She finished last season ranked 17th in the country and fourth in the South Region in singles play.
Other players seeded for the event behind Vallverdu include, in order, Chisako Sugiyama (Michigan), Kirsten Flower (Ohio State) and Lindsay Burdette (Stanford).
As for rising sophomore Michaela Kissell, the Hostetter, Pa. native split time between the No. 2 and No. 3 positions for UM, ending the season with a record of 18-10 overall, 12-7 in dual match play. Kissell joined Vallverdu in the final ITA singles rankings, coming in at No. 64 overall and No. 13 in the South Region.
The singles and doubles champions from the ITA National Summer Championships earn wild cards into the first national tournaments of the 2008-09 collegiate tennis season – the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships in October. By earning All-American status last season, Vallverdu has already qualified for the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships which are scheduled to be held on Oct. 2-5 in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
For a complete Championship schedule and a list of past championships, you can log on to the official ITA website at www.ITAtennis.com.
