Lohan Fifth in ITA Preseason Rankings
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The ITA announced its 2016-17 preseason rankings Tuesday afternoon and a trio of players from the University of Miami women’s tennis team made the singles list.
Sinead Lohan is the highest-ranked junior in the country, checking in at fifth nationally, and she is followed by redshirt sophomore Yolimar Ogando at No. 32 and sophomore Ana Madcur tied for the No. 117 spot.
“This is a starting point,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us and much improvement to be made.”
Lohan is the first Hurricane in the top five of the ITA preseason singles rankings since Audra Cohen was No. 1 to open the 2006-07 season, and it is the first top-five mark of her career. The Waterford, Ireland, native is coming off one of the finest seasons in program history, posting a 40-6 singles record, reaching the NCAA Singles Championship Final Four, garnering ITA All-America honors and finishing sixth nationally.
Ogando had a stellar 14-1 record in the fall of 2015 before suffering a season-ending injury that kept her out all spring. A native of Carolina, Puerto Rico, Ogando was still ranked in the top 50 in singles the entire 2015-16 season, peaking at No. 21.
For Madcur, who hails from San Juan, Argentina, this is the first ITA national ranking of her career. She went 27-6 in singles competition in her opening year as a Hurricane and concluded the season ranked No. 20 in the ITA Southeast Region rankings.
In addition to releasing the preseason rankings, the ITA also announced the selections for the 2016 Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships. Held Oct. 1-9 in Pacific Palisades, Calif., it is one of the elite events of the collegiate season.
Lohan was one of 22 players in the nation to garner a main draw selection, while Ogando was chosen for the qualifying round and as a main draw alternate. Junior Silvia Fuentes was tabbed as a pre-qualifying selection and redshirt senior Maci Epstein earned pre-qualifying alternate status.
The Hurricanes are set to begin their 2016 fall season this weekend at the Duke Bonk Invitational, held Friday through Sunday in Cary, N.C.
To keep up with the University of Miami women’s tennis team on social media, follow @CanesWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
