Women's Tennis Enjoys Stellar Day at Riviera in Main Draw
Oct. 2, 2008
Pacific Palisades, Calif. – University of Miami two-time All-American women’s tennis player Laura Vallverdu won in straight sets and Bianca Eichkorn won in three in order to advance themselves into the Round of 16 at the 2008 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
It was yet another productive day for the Hurricanes on Thursday as two-of-three participating players advanced on to the quarterfinals of the main draw. UM also pushed through their doubles team consisting of Vallverdu and sophomore Michaela Kissell.
Vallverdu, ranked No. 14 in the nation, used a stellar 6-3, 6-4 performance against Duke’s Tara Iyer (No. 60) in order to proceed. The win came just 24 hours after Iyer defeated UM’s Kissell (No. 49) in the final round of qualifying, giving the junior from Venezuela a bit of payback, so to speak, for her doubles partner.
Vallverdu next faces the winner of Lenka Broosova (Baylor) and Chelsea Gullickson (Georgia) on Friday. Broosova entered the tournament seeded eighth in the field and ranked No. 8 nationally. Gullickson is unranked, but advanced to the main draw field of 32 after winning all three of her qualifying matches.
Miami sophomore Bianca Eichkorn (No. 109) defeated her opponent Kellie Schmitt (No. 42) of Marshall University in an exciting three-set affair. Eichkorn took the marathon contest 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the Round of 16 and tie her career-high for consecutive wins (10).
She next plays the winner of No. 6 Maria Mosolova (Northwestern) versus No. 18 Ellah Nze (Duke) on Friday.
The doubles team of Laura Vallverdu and Michaela Kissell, ranked No. 15 in the country, topped 10th-ranked Aurelija Miseviciute and Ela Kaluder of Arkansas in a wonderful match, 8-6. The Hurricanes duo now advances to the quarterfinals where they will meet-up with No. 4 Alex Haney and Melissa Koning of Auburn, seeded fourth in this week’s tournament.
The only loss of the day for the `Canes was a tough 6-3, 6-1 setback for No. 25 Julia Cohen who was matched up with second-seeded and No. 2 nationally ranked Ani Mijacika from Clemson University. For Cohen, it was her first loss of the season after rolling off three straight victories to begin her UM career.
Play continues on Friday with two rounds of action in singles play, 2nd round and quarterfinals, as well as the quarterfinal round of doubles play.
As the governing body of collegiate tennis the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which was founded in 1956 and is based in Skillman, N.J., administers numerous regional and national championships, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit presented by the USTA, and the ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings for men’s and women’s tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship.
Championship selections, updated results and live scoring can be found throughout both championships at www.itatennis.com.
