Women's Tennis Players Selected for NCAA Individual Championships
April 29, 2009
Coral Gables, Fla. – Four University of Miami Hurricanes women’s tennis players were notified on Wednesday they will compete in this year’s field of 64 as part of the individual portion of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships. UM will also field a doubles team in the 32-team doubles bracket.
The singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 20-25 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas, following the conclusion of the team championship (May 15-19). Texas A&M University, College Station will serve as host.
All matches shall be the best of three sets. Regular scoring and a 12-point tiebreaker at six games will be used for all matches.
Making her first appearance in the field of 64 as a Hurricane is sophomore Julia Cohen, earning the field’s No. 2 overall seed. The All-ACC performer currently ranks No. 3 in the Campbell’s/ITA single poll–the highest position for the Philadelphia, Pa. native this year. Before falling in the ACC Championship match, Cohen rolled off an impressive streak of 15 consecutive wins, including victories over three Top 5 opponents. Cohen concluded the regular season with a record of 27-5.
Joining Cohen as one of the top eight seeded players is Maria Mosolova (Northwestern), claiming the No. 1 overall seed, followed by Aurelija Miseviciute (Arkansas), Ani Mijacika (Clemson), Mallory Cecil (Duke), Fani Chifchieva (Auburn), Hilary Barte (Stanford) and Chelsey Gullickson (Georgia).
Cohen owns a record of 3-4 against the Top 8 seeded players on the year, including a win over Clemson’s Mijacika when she was ranked No. 1 in the country.
UM junior Laura Vallverdu, ranked No. 24 in this week’s national poll, looks for a return trip–and hopefully further, to the Round of 16. She is making her third consecutive trip to the individual championships in both singles and doubles competition. Vallverdu owns a record of 25-7 on the year, and a 23-4 dual record. At the No. 2 singles spot, she has collected a record of 21-4 as she enters the field a winner in her last nine matches for the Hurricanes.
The two-time All-America and three-time All-ACC performer from Valencia, Venezuela won her first two NCAA individual matches last season in Tulsa, Okla., before bowing out to Arkansas’ Aurelija Miseviciute in the Round of 16. Vallverdu has never lost an opening-round match in the individual tournament.
Making her first-ever trip to the singles field is sophomore Bianca Eichkorn. Eichkorn, also an All-ACC performer, owns a team-best record of 36-7 on the year, with a 21-4 record in dual matches. She ended the regular season 10-1 against ACC foes, and currently ranks No. 31 nationally. Her 36 singles wins on the season allowed her to move into a share of fourth place all-time at UM for single-season wins, sitting alongside All-American and current University of Michigan head coach Ronnie Reis Bernstein (1984-85).
The final Hurricanes performer entering the individual field is Michaela Kissell, ranked No. 49 in this week’s singles poll. Kissell is one of two UM players to collect 30-plus wins on the campaign, holding a mark of 35-7 for the year (25-2 in dual matches). Kissell currently enjoys a 13-match winning streak, and is a perfect 11-0 at the No. 4 singles position for UM. She is also the fourth Miami player that was tabbed to the All-ACC Team for the 2008-09 campaign.
On the doubles bracket, the team of 19th-ranked Michaela Kissell and Laura Vallverdu leads the charge for the Hurricanes in the field of 32. The duo registered a record of 15-6 together on the year, and has gone 8-2 in their last 10 matches. Together, they went 12-3 at flight one doubles for the `Canes in the spring.
Vallverdu is making her third appearance in the doubles bracket, collecting a win last year with Romy Farah in the opening round.
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.
