Women's Tennis Advances Two into NCAA Singles Sweet 16
May 27, 2010
Updated Singles Bracket (PDF) 
| Updated Doubles Bracket (PDF)
Athens, Ga. – Senior Laura Vallverdu and junior Bianca Eichkorn each collected ITA All-America honors on Thursday, turning in victories in the Round of 32 during the NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles Championships at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. They now advance into Friday’s “Sweet 16” matches of the singles tournament.
In doubles play, the sixth-ranked team of Gabriela Mejia and Laura Vallverdu advanced to the Round of 16 in the doubles portion of this year’s tournament.
For Vallverdu, the All-America honor is her fourth consecutive during her storied career in Coral Gables. Meanwhile, Eichkorn collects her second consecutive All-America honor after making it to the “Sweet 16” of the singles tournament for consecutive years.
Eichkorn, ranked No. 40 in the nation, advanced into her second consecutive “Sweet 16” of the singles tournament, cruising past 50th-ranked Micaela Hein of Arizona State in straight sets (6-1, 6-1). The win allowed her to collect her second-straight 30-win season, becoming the third player on the 2009-10 UM roster to claim a 30-win campaign. She now joins Laura Vallverdu and Anna Bartenstein who each collected 30 wins during the dual season for the `Canes.
After missing almost the entire fall season recovering from surgery, Eichkorn has now registered 26 consecutive singles victories, and continues the third-longest winning streak in UM women’s tennis history behind Megan Bradley (39) and Audra Cohen (28).
Eichkorn will next face fifth-seeded Lenka Broosova of Baylor, who is currently ranked No. 5 in the nation, in her Round of 16 match on Fri., May 28, with a time to be determined at the conclusion of the men’s and women’s singles matches Thursday evening. Broosova serves as the top-flight player for the Baylor Bears. She defeated 29th-ranked Anouk Tigu of Arkansas in her Round of 32 match.
“I’m so proud of the girls for earning All-American status again this year,” stated UM women’s tennis head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews. “It just says a lot about how hard these two young ladies have worked this year, and the dedication and promise they’ve shown this program throughout the years is paying off for them in a tremendous way.”
As for Vallverdu, the No. 8 seed in this year’s field, she finished Stanford’s 33rd-ranked Mallory Burdette on a 6-4, 6-0 line, cruising to her third consecutive “Sweet 16” appearance of the singles tournament. Vallverdu ups her 2009-10 record to 33-12, with her 33 wins being a team-best on this year’s roster. In the process, she becomes the first women’s tennis student-athlete at UM to claim four consecutive All-America honors since Ronnie Reis (1985-88), now head women’s tennis coach at the University of Michigan.
Vallverdu will meet 48th-ranked Nadja Gilchrist of the University of Georgia in the “Sweet 16” on Fri., May 28, with a time to be determined later Thursday evening. Gilchrist collected a trip to the “Sweet 16” with a 6-4, 6-1 triumph over Tennessee’s Caitlin Whoriskey.
In doubles action, Mejia and Vallverdu, ranked as a No. 5-8 seed in this year’s field, advanced to the “Sweet 16” of the doubles tournament with a two-set defeat of Denver’s 54th-ranked team of Sophia Bergner and Ute Schnoy of the University of Denver. The nation’s sixth-ranked tandem (Mejia and Vallverdu) collected their 12th consecutive win together by virtue of a 6-1, 6-4 win.
They will continue their NCAA Doubles Championship run on Fri., May 28, when they face California’s ninth-ranked team of Jana Juricova and Mari Andersson. The Golden Bears’ duo posted a three-set defeat (6-7, 7-5, 6-1) over the University of Florida’s 26th-ranked tandem of Lauren Embree and Anastasia Revzina. A match time for the Mejia/Vallverdu faction against the Golden Bears’ duo will be announced later Thursday evening.
As a team, Mejia and Vallverdu improve to 26-5 overall on the season, while they completed the dual season for the `Canes at 14-3 – all at the No. 1 doubles position.
All matches in singles and doubles will be played at either the Henry Field Courts or the McWhorter Courts inside the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. If inclement weather ensues at any point during the matches, they will be moved to either the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility or the Norcross (Ga.) Indoor Facility a short drive from the Athens area.
There will be links to live scoring and live video of each match played at the NCAA Tournament Central page here: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/c-tennis/champpage/c-tennis-div1-index.html. If rain forces play to move indoors, then there will not be live video, and only live scoring.
