UM Women Host USTA National Junior Team

Feb. 18, 2009

Coral Gables, Fla. – University of Miami Women’s Tennis plays host to the USTA National Junior Team in an exhibition match on Thursday, February 19 at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables at 1:30 pm. Admission is absolutely free, and all are invited to attend.

Miami is currently ranked 15th nationally, and has four student-athletes ranked in the preseason singles polls–with a doubles team ranked as well. UM is currently enjoying an 8-1 record having most recently defeated Wisconsin (No. 68) and Stanford (No. 5) last weekend at the ITA National Indoor Team Tournament in Madison, Wis.

Michaela Kissell, a sophomore from Hostetter, Pa., is riding a career-high tying 12-match winning streak dating back to the fall while ranking No. 50 in the country. That position is expected to increase greatly, as well as UM’s team place-holding, on Thursday afternoon when the bi-weekly polls are released by the ITA home office.

Also ranked for UM are sophomore Julia Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) ranked 8th, sophomore Bianca Eichkorn (Tengen, Germany) ranked 20th and two-time All-American junior Laura Vallverdu (Valencia, Venezuela) ranked 114th. The doubles team of Bianca Eichkorn and Michaela Kissell, holding a record of 7-1 together in the spring (10-2 overall), are ranked 14th as a pair.

After enjoying the exhibition match on Thursday, the `Canes take back to the road for their Texas road swing when they visit #4 Baylor (Feb. 21) and #21 TCU (Feb. 22). Updated notes and statistics for both matches will be available Thursday evening, following the release of the updated ITA singles/doubles/team rankings.

For more information on University of Miami Women’s Tennis, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com. After browsing to the women’s tennis home page, you will find the latest news, stats and match notes pertaining to the Hurricanes women’s tennis program.