Miami Women's Tennis to Host NCAA Regional May 8 & 9
April 28, 2009
2009 Women’s Bracket in PDF Format 
Coral Gables, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team is set to host the Coral Gables Regional at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on the campus of UM for the upcoming NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournament as announced on Tuesday evening by the NCAA Selection Committee in a live telecast provided by ESPNews. The Hurricanes are one of 16 host sites, and drew the No. 6 overall seed in this year’s tournament which begins May 8.
Miami (23-4), ranked No. 6 in this week’s Campbell’s/ITA national poll, earned the No. 6 overall seed having won the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) title, and advancing to the ACC Championship match before falling in a close contest to Duke, 4-3.
Joining UM in this year’s Coral Gables Regional will be No. 42 Princeton, Army and cross-town rival and 29th-ranked FIU. Miami opens up its NCAA Tournament against Army (24-8), winners of the Patriot League title–their 10th Patriot League championship overall. Meanwhile, FIU [2009 Sun Belt Conference champions] opens against Princeton–champions out of the Ivy League. For the Princeton Tigers, they are earning their eighth Ivy League championship, but making just their third-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
“Obviously, we’re happy to host, and it’s a testament to how hard the girls have worked all year,” expressed UM head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews, the 2009 ACC Coach of the Year. “That’s our goal every season [to host], and to start the field of 64 in our own back yard.”
The teams will play a single-elimination tournament at 16 first- and second-round sites (four teams at each site) and the finals site (16-team bracket) to determine the national champion. The matches shall be regulation dual matches with three (3) eight-game, pro-set doubles played for one team point, followed by six (6) singles matches, each valued at one team point, played best of three sets. Regular scoring will be used and a 12-point tiebreaker will be played at eight games all in doubles and at six games all in singles.
The selection marks the fifth consecutive year the Hurricanes have received a national seed and will host a regional. In each of the past three years, Miami won first and second round matches at home to advance as one of 16 regional winners to the NCAA Championships. This is also the 14th consecutive season UM is advancing to the NCAA Tournament, while Yaroshuk-Tews has guided them to the event in each of her eight seasons in Coral Gables.
This year, Texas A&M and the city of College Station is slated to host its third NCAA Championship of the 2008-09 athletic year, serving as host of the 2009 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships this past March.
Northwestern, Georgia, Duke, Baylor and Notre Dame earned the top five national seeds, while Miami, USC, California, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and UCLA earned spots 6 through 11. The Northwestern Wildcats enter the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, and have sat atop the Campbell’s/ITA national poll virtually all season.
Aside from the third-seeded Duke Blue Devils and ninth-seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, joining the `Canes to represent the ACC is North Carolina, Virginia, Florida State, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Clemson–making it a total of eight teams representing the league in the field of 64.
UM collected an overall record of 15-3 against teams participating in this year’s NCAA Tournament, including defeating FIU by a count of 6-1 in Coral Gables back on Jan. 28. That overall mark also includes wins over five of the 16 nationally-seeded institutions, including No. 3 Duke, No. 10 Tennessee and No. 12 Clemson.
“Looking forward to the second round, we could face FIU and they’re a tough and talented local team,” adds Yaroshuk-Tews. “They have some of the same advantages as we do in that they can sleep in their own beds and they can have somewhat of a home crowd. We can’t get ahead of ourselves, and can’t take anyone lightly. We’ve got eight points ahead of us.”
If UM is successful in advancing to their fourth-straight Round of 16, they could eventually meet-up with UCLA–a school they have heavy ties with. Yaroshuk-Tews is a 1996 graduate of UCLA, while current volunteer assistant Megan Bradley transferred from UCLA in 2002 before earning the fifth place spot on UM’s all-time wins list.
The list of individuals selected to the singles and doubles championships will be released on Wednesday evening.
For ticket information on the Coral Gables Regional, please contact the UM Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-CANES. Box office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST.
For more information on the Coral Gables Regional, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com — the official home for all University of Miami athletics news. To gather information on the NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournament, please locate your internet browser to www.NCAAsports.com.
Coral Gables Regional Schedule
Friday, May 8
Match 1: Princeton vs. FIU, 10 a.m.
Match 2: Army vs. No. 6 Miami, 1 p.m.
Saturday, May 9
Match 3: Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2 – 2 p.m.
