Miami's Cohen, Vallverdu Move on to NCAA Tennis Semifinals
May 23, 2009
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College Station, Texas – Julia Cohen and Laura Vallverdu each collected three-set wins on Saturday, earning trips into the semifinals of this year’s NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles Championships at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas.
The NCAA men’s singles semifinal matches will now be played on Sunday, May 24 at 10:00 a.m. (CT) followed by women’s singles semifinals at 11:30 a.m. (CT), men’s doubles semifinals at 1:00 p.m. (CT) and women’s doubles semifinals not before 2:30 p.m. (CT). All of Sunday’s matches were originally slated for a noon (CT) start.
For the first time in school history, Miami will have two of the final four participants represented in the NCAA Semifinals of the women’s tennis singles tournament. Before today, just three players in the history of the program had advanced into the semifinals, including 2007 NCAA Champion Audra Cohen. The other two, UM volunteer assistant coach Megan Bradley in 2004, and current University of Michigan head coach Ronni Reis (Bernstein) in 1988.
Now, add two more names to that list with the No. 1 and No. 2 singles players for the Hurricanes all year progressing into the Final Four.
In the opening match, junior two-time All-American Laura Vallverdu (No. 24) collected a trip into the semifinals with a three-set win over Florida’s Marrit Boonstra, ranked No. 8 in the Campbell’s/ITA singles poll and a No. 9-16 seed for the tournament. For Vallverdu, Boonstra represented the third consecutive seeded player she would upset in her trip to the semifinals.
Vallverdu collected the opener with a 6-1 decision, before Florida’s Boonstra stormed back to collect a come-from-behind 7-6 decision in the second set after Vallverdu led 5-3.
“Laura was able to keep her emotions intact and get back to playing good tennis,” admitted UM head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews afterwards. “That’s been an obstacle of hers has been staying cool and keeping a straight head in some tighter matches, but she was able to do that today.”
The third set would be all Vallverdu as the Valencia, Venezuela native took a 6-3 decision earning her first-ever trip to the NCAA Semifinals. In the process, she runs her record for the year out to 32-7, tying her freshman season (2006-07) for career-best wins in a season.
“I don’t know why, but when I was up 5-3 in the second I just got so nervous,” admitted Vallverdu afterwards. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt that feeling in my life. My arms started feeling heavy, my legs, everything. I started doubting myself, which had nothing to do with it. It’s just the fact that I wasn’t moving well. After I talked to my coach she was like, `It’s all in your control and you’re going to have to decide what to do with this match. If you don’t turn it around, you’re going to be really upset when you get out.’ I said, `all I’m going to do is just try to fight it off and don’t think about it,’ and I kind of did it. Then she got a little bit injured. I think her knee hurt a little at about 4-3 in the third set, and then I took advantage of that. She wanted to finish the points faster, so I started moving her a little more. I felt more in control. At the end of the match it was 5-3, and I was thinking about that second set. I just forgot about it and just thought about the ball and myself.”
Vallverdu will now meet Georgia’s Chelsey Gullickson, the No. 8 seed for the tournament, after the Bulldogs’ No. 1 singles player took down the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s field, Maria Mosolova of Northwestern. This will be the second match of the 2008-09 season between Vallverdu and Gullickson as Vallverdu claimed the first meeting with a three-set win (1-6, 6-3, 6-1) in the second round of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships back in September.
“Gullickson is playing some of the best tennis in the tournament right now, but what’s helped Laura is that she’s playing great tennis in this tournament,” said Yaroshuk-Tews. “I think if she comes in confident, then she can win. But I also think if she comes out not playing well at the start, then she can still win. Laura has that type of mindset and game right now, and I just hope she can implement that in the match tomorrow.”
In the other quarterfinal matchup for Miami, No. 2 seeded and third-ranked All-ACC performer Julia Cohen used a three-set line (7-5, 5-7, 6-1) to defeat North Carolina’s Sanaz Marand in earning her first-ever trip to the semifinals.
“The first two sets I didn’t play that well, but I just competed well and won the match,” exclaimed Cohen. “I have played (Sanaz Marand of North Carolina) once before at Miami and I won that match. It’s amazing that there are two girls from the same team in the semis. I think that is a really good.”
After the two ACC foes stood even through two sets, the skies appeared to be soon to open up in the form of rain. Before more than an hour-and-a-half rain delay, Cohen burst out to a 4-0 lead in the third set. After the delay and courts were dried, Cohen took two of the next three games to earn the victory.
“Julia played two tight sets of tennis today, and she just broke away from Marand in the third,” expressed Yaroshuk-Tews. “She’s playing better tennis as this tournament progresses and the goal now is to try and have a Miami vs. Miami final.”
Cohen runs her record for the year out to 33-7 while preparing to meet an old foe in the NCAA Semifinals. She will face-off against Duke’s Mallory Cecil, the No. 5 seed for the tournament, in Sunday’s Final Four matchup. This will mark the third fourth meeting between the ACC foes this year, and the third time in just over a month–with the last being a straight-set win (6-2, 6-1) for Marand in the quarterfinals of the team portion of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships just last weekend. Cohen defeated Cecil in the first meeting, but Cecil has taken the last two.
“I found that when she [Julia] gets off to a good start against Cecil and let’s her know she’s there and plays aggressive at the first point, then she’s a different player,” stated Yaroshuk-Tews about Cohen playing Cecil. “Julia can’t let her come out and dictate the first point. She’s got to get out there and turn the tides fast.”
When asked about the semifinals, and about the competition ahead of her, Vallverdu could only think about the fact that she and her teammate [Cohen] are making history for the UM program. She didn’t want the focus on her, but on the program and things they are doing for it.
“I kind of don’t want to talk about myself right now,” said Vallverdu. “It’s just so big that the University of Miami is going to have two girls in the final four. I’m just so happy for me and for Julia (Cohen).”
For more information on the NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles/Doubles Championships, please log on to www.ncaa.com. For information on the official site of the championships, please visit http://www.aggieathletics.com/ncaa2009/tennis/.
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.
