Women's Tennis Concludes First Day of National Indoor Championships
Nov. 6, 2008
Charlottesville, Va. – Miami junior All-American and 14th-ranked Laura Vallverdu was upset in the opening round (6-3, 2-6, 5-7) in a three-set affair Thursday evening against No. 30 Samantha Murray of Northwestern during the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.
Vallverdu, playing in her first match since Oct. 4, took the opening set against Murray, 6-3, but was unable to carry that adrenaline into the next set. Murray quickly bounced back for a 6-2 decision, forcing the match into a third and final set.
In the deciding set, both players went the distance before Murray got the better of the Valencia, Venezuela native, 7-5. For Vallverdu, both of her fall losses have come against Top 30 opponents. Her opponent for tomorrow’s consolation round has yet to be determined, while the time for the event is undecided as well.
In doubles action, the No. 15 ranked team of Vallverdu and sophomore Michaela Kissell (Hostetter, Pa.) fell in the opening round to Texas’ duo of Vanja Corovic and Marija Milic, currently ranked No. 12 by the ITA. The Hurricanes combination was downed by a score of 8-1, but will look to bounce back tomorrow in the consolation round beginning at 8:30 am. Once there, they will take on Duke’s Amanda Granson and Melissa Mang who were upset in their opening round by Nanar Airapetian and Anouk Tigu of Arkansas.
Granson and Mang are the second seed in this weekend’s tournament, and currently sit ranked third by the ITA in the preseason doubles poll. Last season, Vallverdu was successful against the Duke duo alongside former Hurricane teammate Romy Farah as they breezed through the Blue Devils, 8-2.
As the governing body of collegiate tennis the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. For complete results from this weekend’s action, please visit the official ITA website at www.itatennis.com.
Vallverdu and Kissell’s teammates will also be in action this weekend as the University of Miami hosts the UM Women’s Tennis Fall Invitational at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables, Florida. The UM Women’s Tennis Fall Invitational runs from Nov. 7-9. Admission to the event is free.
