Miami Doubles Duo Ranked No. 3 in ITA Poll
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Monique Albuquerque and Clementina Riobueno checked in at No. 3 in the Division I Women’s Preseason Doubles Rankings, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced Monday.
Three Hurricane singles players also appeared in the preseason poll—Stephanie Wagner at No. 18, Lina Lileikite at No. 71 and Albuquerque at No. 111.
The Canes top doubles duo finished the season ranked sixth in the nation after advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA doubles championship in Athens, Ga. With Albuquerque announcing mid-summer that she would return for her final year of eligibility, it comes as no surprise to see the duo ranked so high.
“Starting out top-20 in the country for Steffi and No. 3 in the country for Monique and Clementina, I think it says a lot about what they’ve been doing these last couple years,” head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “If we look at where they came in as freshman, these kids were not even on the map in terms of rankings and respect given around the country. What this is showing is that as a doubles team, they’re a contender for one of the top spots in college tennis. When you start off in the preseason rankings so high, it’s a huge responsibility. We will have a target on our chests and all of these other kids are going to be out to beat them, week in and week out. We’re looking forward to the future and are expecting big things from them.”
Albuquerque and Riobueno, named an All-American doubles tandem this past spring, appeared in every poll of 2014 while posting a 23-4 overall record and a 10-1 mark in ACC play. At the No. 1 spot, the Canes’ duo finished 15-3 and went 6-2 at No. 2.
Wagner, a junior from Amberg, Germany, cracked the top-20 of the singles poll for the first time in her career after finishing the 2014 spring season ranked 26th.
Albuquerque, Wagner, Lileikite and Riobueno, along with five freshmen, will get their fall season underway this coming weekend at the Duke Fab Four in Cary, N.C.
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