Women's Tennis Cracks Top 5 for First Time This Year

March 24, 2009

Coral Gables, Fla. – With three victories over Top 25 programs at home last week, the University of Miami women’s tennis team cracked the Top 5 this week coming in at No. 5 in the Campbell’s/ITA national poll released Tuesday afternoon.

Miami (16-3, 5-1 ACC) triumphed over three Top 25 opponents last week, including ACC foe and seventh-ranked Duke at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on Sunday. The Hurricanes took four-of-six singles matches from the Blue Devils, while also collecting the doubles point in two-of-three matches.

Prior to that much-anticipated contest with the Blue Devils, the Hurricanes downed No. 21 Arkansas (W, 7-0) and No. 15 North Carolina (W, 6-1) in extraordinary fashion. Miami played three matches in five days last week to increase their stock.

UM is now riding a five-match winning streak (all against Top 25 programs), thanks in part to this week’s ACC Player of the Week, Julia Cohen. On the week, Cohen collected a 3-0 record with all three victories coming against ranked opponents at flight one singles for the Hurricanes. She helped the eighth-ranked Hurricanes to a 3-0 record as a team with wins over No. 21 Arkansas, No. 15 North Carolina and No. 7 Duke, respectively.

There was little movement for the rest of the Top 5 this week, as Northwestern continued its stronghold on the top spot, followed by Georgia (2), Notre Dame (3) and Baylor (4). The only movement was between Georgia and Notre Dame, each flip-slopping position from a week ago.

Miami travels to Virginia Tech on Mar. 28, in a match slated for a noon start. They will then play at Virginia a day later in Charlottesville. Live stats for the Virginia Tech match will be available through www.Hokiesports.com.

For more information on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and a complete list of this week’s poll, please visit www.itatennis.com.