WoMen's Tennis Eighth in Final ITA Rankings
SKILLMAN, N.J. – After its record fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, the University of Miami women’s tennis team ended its 2013 season with a No. 8 ranking, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
The Hurricanes entered the 2013 NCAA Women’s Team Championship as a No. 6 seed, matching the highest-ever seeding in program history (2009). Wins over UNF, Purdue and Northwestern sent the Canes to another Elite Eight. No other women’s program has an active streak of reaching the NCAA tournament quarterfinals equal to UM.
Miami finished the 2013 season with a 23-6 overall record and won the ACC Tournament for the first time since the Hurricanes joined the league in 2004.
Head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews, assistant coach Alex Santos and freshman Stephanie Wagner each earned ITA Southeast Region awards and Santos went on to earn ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year honors. It was the first national ITA award in program history.
Wagner, a rookie and native of Amberg, Germany, was chosen to compete in the 2013 NCAA Women’s Singles Championship and advanced to the second round. She was also honored as an All-ACC performer and entered the NCAA tournament as the nation’s 60th-ranked singles player.
The Hurricanes accomplished all of this without a single senior as juniors Melissa Bolivar and Brittany Dubins were the team’s eldest players. In fact, five of Miami’s eight players were competing in their first collegiate season, including sophomore Monique Albuquerque and freshmen Deborah Suarez, Kelsey Laurente, Clementina Riobuneo and Wagner.
The ITA’s final singles and doubles rankings will be announced on June 5.
