Two UM Women Selected for NCAA Singles Tournament
May 5, 2010
Complete Singles/Doubles Field (PDF) 
Coral Gables, Fla. – Two University of Miami women’s tennis student-athletes will participate in this year’s NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles Championships, including senior Laura Vallverdu as the eighth seed overall in the field of 64. Miami will also field a team in the doubles field of 32.
Three-time All-American Laura Vallverdu earned the No. 8 overall seed in this year’s field, while junior Bianca Eichkorn is also entered into the tournament. The doubles team of Laura Vallverdu and Gabriela Mejia will represent the Hurricanes in the doubles tournament.
The singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 26-31 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia, following the conclusion of the team championship (May 21-25). The University of Georgia will serve as host.
All matches shall be the best of three sets. Regular scoring and a 12-point tiebreaker at six games all will be used for all matches.
Vallverdu, Miami’s all-time leader in singles wins (125), enters the singles tournament as an at-large selection for the `Canes after turning in a 2010 record of 29-11. On the verge of her fourth consecutive 30-win season at UM, Vallverdu is ranked No. 7 in this week’s Campbell/ITA singles poll, and sports a 17-5 record in the spring. Against nationally ranked opponents, the Valencia, Venezuela native is 15-10, and owns a record of 7-3 in her last 10 matches. All of her matches for UM this year has been played at the top flight position in singles and doubles competition.
Vallverdu went 9-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference this year, with her only losses coming to the nation’s top-ranked player, Irina Falconi of Georgia Tech, as well as No. 30 Sanaz Marand of then top-ranked squad North Carolina. Vallverdu also lost to Falconi in Miami’s, 4-3, setback to the ACC champion Yellow Jackets as part of the ACC Championships. For Vallverdu, this marks her fourth consecutive trip to the singles and doubles tournament.
In last year’s NCAA Singles Tournament, Vallverdu was one of the hottest players in the country, posting five wins en route to the championship match, finishing as the NCAA Singles Runner-Up to Duke’s Mallory Cecil in College Station, Texas. Vallverdu has never lost an opening-round match in the individual tournament.
For junior Bianca Eichkorn, this marks the second consecutive appearance to the NCAA singles tournament, after advancing to the Round of 16 last year. In the process, she earned her first-ever ITA All-America honor. The Tengen, Germany native posted 40 singles wins a year ago for the `Canes, with her last match being a 6-2, 7-5 setback to NCAA Champion Mallory Cecil. To date, Eichkorn is riding an impressive 22-match win streak dating back to Jan. 18, as part of the Michigan Invitational.
Eichkorn is ranked No. 40 in the Campbell/ITA singles poll. She is the only Hurricanes performer still perfect in the spring, bringing a record of 21-0 into the NCAA Coral Gables Regional opening match against Boston University. She owns a 2009-10 record of 26-4 (10-0 in the ACC), while posting 14 wins at the No. 2 position for the `Canes. She also holds seven wins at the No. 3 singles spot. Against nationally ranked opponents, Eichkorn holds a record of 8-2 on the season.
On the doubles bracket, the team of sixth-ranked Laura Vallverdu and Gabriela Mejia leads the charge for the Hurricanes in the field of 32. The duo registered a record of 22-5 together on the year, and picked up one of 16 automatic qualifications into this year’s field. Together, they went 11-3 at flight one doubles for the `Canes in the spring. They have picked up eight consecutive wins together, and finished the ACC slate 7-0 for head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews.
Vallverdu is making her fourth consecutive appearance in the doubles bracket, while Mejia is making her first appearance into the field in either singles or doubles.
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.
