Women's Tennis Prepares for Busy Slate of Events

Nov. 4, 2009

Singles Draw in PDF Format | Doubles Draw in PDF Format

Coral Gables, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team will be busy for the remainder of the week stretching into the weekend as they travel to two elite tournaments. UM will have two student-athletes active at the ITA Indoor Championships, while the remaining four players will travel to the Seminole Invitational.

The ITA National Indoor Championships (Nov. 5-8) is being hosted by Yale University in New Haven, Conn., with the Seminole Invitational (Nov. 6-8) hosted by Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla.

The ITA Indoor Championships begin Thursday, Nov. 6 at 9 a.m., with first round singles and doubles, leading up to Sunday’s championship matches for both flights.

The ITA Indoor Championships feature a 32-player singles field and 16-team doubles field for men and women, including: champions from Wilson/ITA Regional Championships held across the country during October, the ITA National Small College champions, the winners of the D’Novo/ITA Men’s All-American Tennis Championships and Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships, and at-large and wild card selections made by the ITA National Tournament Committee.

After winning the ITA Southeast Region doubles title, the `Canes duo of Gabriela Mejia and Laura Vallverdu, ranked 36th nationally by the ITA, earned the automatic bid to the ITA Indoor Championships. The UM duo is currently 7-0 on the year with this season serving as the first time they’ve been paired together.

Vallverdu, a three-time All-American currently ranked No. 6 in the ITA preseason singles poll, will also be competing in singles play at the ITA Indoor Championships. During the ITA Southeast Regional, Vallverdu collected a 4-1 record en route to the semifinals of the main draw bracket. She is currently 6-4 on the year in singles play.

Meanwhile, in the capital city of Tallahassee, in-state rival Florida State is set to host its second fall tournament of the year, and four Miami players will be in action: All-American Bianca Eichkorn, Anna Bartenstein, Danielle Mills and Claudia Wasilewski.

Eichkorn took part in her first tournament of the fall two weeks ago at the ITA Southeast Region Championships in Atlanta. She advanced to the Round of 16 while going 2-1 for the event. Bartenstein enters the weekend working on a 5-1 record for the year, while senior Wasilewski holds a 4-2 mark for the fall season.

The Seminole Invitational is scheduled to have flighted singles with draws of eight and doubles draws. Weather permitting; Friday’s order of play will include two doubles and one singles rounds while Saturday will include the final round of doubles and one singles round. Sunday is scheduled to have the final round of singles.

The Hurricanes will face-off against tough competition from nine other schools including in-state rival and host FSU, USF, UCF and FIU. Participating teams away from the “sunshine state” include Denver, Mississippi State, Memphis, Alabama and Furman.

For complete coverage of the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, visit www.ITAtennis.com. For more information and results from the Seminole Invitational, please visit www.seminoles.com.

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.