UM Places Four on ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Teams
May 20, 2010
Coral Gables, Fla. – Four University of Miami student-athletes representing three different sports were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District (III) Men’s and Women’s At-Large Teams in the University Division.
Laura Vallverdu and Bianca Eichkorn from women’s tennis, Christian Blöcker from men’s tennis and Reuben Ross from men’s diving earned the honor as announced today by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Eichkorn, a 2009 All-American, is making her second appearance on the All-District First Team. A junior majoring in international finance and marketing, the Tengen, Germany native currently holds a cumulative current grade point average of 3.81. Ranked No. 40 in the ITA singles poll, she enters Thursday’s NCAA Championships “Sweet 16” match riding a team-best 23-match win streak dating back to January. On the year, Eichkorn is 27-4, including a perfect 22-0 showing this spring. She continues to work her way up the all-time career singles wins chart, now sitting in seventh place with 96 total wins.
A four-time All-ACC honoree and three-time All-American, Vallverdu earned Second Team honors for the All-District Academic Team. Miami’s all-time singles wins leader (126), the senior earned her degree in psychology last weekend, finishing with a 3.60 GPA. The Valencia, Venezuela native, ranked No. 7 in the nation for singles – as well as No. 6 in doubles, collected her fourth consecutive 30-win season as a Hurricane. She enters Thursday’s match with a 2009-10 record of 30-11 in singles play and 31-6 in doubles competition. Vallverdu’s 102 career doubles wins ranks fourth in school history.
Blöcker, who recently wrapped up his junior season with UM’s men’s tennis squad, makes his debut on the ESPN The Magazine All-District III First Team. A native of Hamburg, Germany, the double major in accounting and finance has a 3.91 GPA and earned All-ACC Academic Team honors in 2009. Playing predominantly out of the No. 1 and 2 positions for the Hurricanes this season, Blöcker went 17-13 overall and knocked off a pair of ranked opponents in singles play, and added a 17-12 mark in doubles competition. He was ranked as high as No. 100 in the country in singles and No. 60 in doubles.
Ross, a senior on Miami’s diving team, is making his second consecutive appearance on the All-District III First Team. A May graduate in civil engineering, he finished with a 3.52 GPA. Ross was named to the All-ACC Academic Team this season, while also collecting his seventh All-America award with a fifth-place finish in the 1-meter springboard at the NCAA Men’s Championships. He also earned honorable mention All-America honors in the 3-meter springboard, becoming the first male diver since Miguel Velazquez (2002-05) to capture All-American honors in each of his four years in Coral Gables. Additionally, Ross is the third Hurricane diver since 1990 — joining Bryan Gillooly (1995-98) and Chris Mantilla (1995-98) – to earn All-America honors in four-straight seasons.
