Miami Strong in Day Two Action at Indoor Championships
Nov. 6, 2009
New Haven, Conn. – The University of Miami women’s tennis doubles team of Gabriela Mejia and Laura Vallverdu picked up another win Friday afternoon, cruising into the semifinals of the main draw bracket at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, hosted by Yale University at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Conn.
A day after shocking the defending doubles national champions from California, the No. 36 ranked duo of Mejia and Vallverdu advanced past the quarterfinals with a decisive 8-2 win over Fresno Pacific’s team of Vanessa Heroux and Katia Sabate. The UM pair never trailed in the match, and seemingly cruised in order to keep the Mejia/Vallverdu tandem perfect on the year at 9-0.
Now, they will face the top-seeded doubles team of Natalie Pluskota and Caitlin Whoriskey, representing the University of Tennessee on Saturday at 9 a.m., in the semifinals.
This will be the first time the two doubles pairs will meet on the court, but they are no strangers to each other in competition. Vallverdu and Pluskota faced each other in singles action last season in the ITA National Team Indoor Qualifier in Coral Gables, with Vallverdu walking off the court with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Vallverdu was also a part of the top-flight doubles squad that defeated the Volunteers’ team of Whoriskey and Zsofia Zubor, 8-4, in that same Indoor Qualifier. Meanwhile, Pluskota combined with teammate Jennifer Meredith to claim a third-flight doubles win over Mejia and partner Alessa Waibel.
In Friday’s singles action, sixth-ranked Vallverdu advanced to the quarterfinals of the consolation draw with her three-set defeat of Oklahoma’s Ana-Maria Constantinescu. The line was a thrilling 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 decision for the three-time All-American from Valencia, Venezuela.
She now faces Sona Novakova of Armstrong Atlantic on Saturday at a time to be determined.
The ITA National Intercollegiate 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 “Super Bowl” champions, the singles semifinalists and doubles champions 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.
Play resumes Saturday with semifinal doubles matches beginning at 9 am ET.
For complete results and event information, visit www.itatennis.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.
ITA National Indoor Championships (Day Two)
Singles (Consolation Draw)
Round of 16
No. 6 Laura Vallverdu (Miami) def. No. 71 Ana Constantinescu (Oklahoma) … 6-2, 2-6, 6-0
Doubles (Main Draw)
Quarterfinals
No. 36 Mejia/Vallverdu (Miami) def. Heroux/Sabate (Fresno Pacific) … 8-2
