Women's Tennis Ready for All-American Championships
Oct. 7, 2009
Main Draw Singles Bracket in PDF Format 
Coral Gables, Fla. – Three-time All-American Laura Vallverdu was named the No. 6 overall seed heading into the ITA/Riviera All-American Championships on Thursday, Oct.8, where she will represent the University of Miami women’s tennis team in the annual event held in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Vallverdu, last year’s NCAA Singles Championship finalist, will serve as the only Hurricanes performer at this year’s event. She will challenge North Carolina’s Sanaz Marand in the opening round of the main draw singles on Thursday.
Vallverdu, a 5-foot-2 senior from Valencia, Venezuela, is currently ranked No. 6 in the ITA singles poll. She is set to compete in her second event of the young fall season. In her last outing during the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational, Vallverdu defeated No. 2 ranked Chelsey Gullickson of the University of Georgia. She would finish the weekend holding a 1-1 record in singles play, while also collecting a 2-0 record in doubles play alongside partner Gabriela Mejia.
“As a senior, I’m really looking forward to continue playing at a high level, as well as representing the `U’, and the results will take care of themselves,” commented Vallverdu on the upcoming event.
In last year’s Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, Vallverdu posted a record of 2-1 before falling in the quarterfinals. In her opening round, she defeated Duke’s Tara Iyer (No. 60) before turning around a day later to defeat Gullickson for what would be the first of two meetings between the future 2009 All-Americans.
The Atlantic Coast Conference has six players in the main draw–while sitting as the only seeded player for the ACC, announced Wednesday morning by the ITA, with eight spots still remaining to be filled from the qualifying portion of the tournament.
Northwestern’s Maria Mosolova is this year’s top seed after spending much of the 2009 season ranked atop the Campbell’s/ITA singles rankings. Georgia’s Chelsey Gullickson is the second seed, followed by Florida’s Marrit Boonstra.
If successful, the potential for a Round of 16 meeting against either fourth-seeded Jana Juricova (California) or ACC foe Ellah Nze of Duke awaits for Vallverdu.
When asked about the team overall on the fall leading into the second tournament of the season, Vallverdu was enthusiastic about where she sees the energy level of her teammates and coaches. She was also excited about where they are now, and where they are headed as the season progresses.
“So far, I’m feeling really comfortable,” stated Vallverdu. “Being a leader is really giving me great perspective in life. So far, the team is doing great. I’m expecting big things this year.”
For more in-depth information on this year’s Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, please visit www.itatennis.com. RadioTennis.com’s live coverage of the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships is on now. Simply click here to listen to today’s matches.
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.
