Perez-Somarriba Named an ITA All-American
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Estela Perez-Somarriba of the University of Miami women’s tennis team was officially announced Thursday as an ITA All-American in singles.
A First Team All-ACC selection, Perez-Somarriba becomes the eighth freshman ITA All-American in program history, including the seventh in singles.
“Earning All-American status is a prestigious honor and very difficult to do whether you’re a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “To be able to get that type of accolade your freshman year just shows a lot about the type of person and athlete that we have in Estela. We’re obviously very proud of her, we think she deserves it and we’re excited for the future of what is to come.”
A native of Madrid, Perez-Somarriba is the second Hurricane freshman to garner ITA All-America distinction in the past three seasons, joining Sinead Lohan in 2014-15. Overall, this is the ninth such honor for a Miami freshman, as Ronni Reis earned the accolade in both singles and doubles in 1984-85.
Perez-Somarriba is the 28th Hurricane to receive the illustrious accolade, including the 15th with Yaroshuk-Tews at the helm, all coming in the past 14 seasons. This marks the 64th total ITA All-America award for a Miami player, including the 33rd under Yaroshuk-Tews.
The Hurricanes have totaled eight ITA All-America honors in the past four years, including six in singles. Miami has had at least one player earn the recognition in 13 of the last 14 seasons.
Perez-Somarriba tallied a team-best 34-7 singles mark in her opening campaign at Miami, finishing the season ranked No. 26 in the country, sixth-best among freshmen. In the spring, she notched a 27-4 overall record, including going 20-3 in dual matches, 12-2 in ACC play and 12-2 against ranked players.
The first freshman in program history to reach the Final Four of the NCAA Singles Championship, Perez-Somarriba went 15-0 over 16 matches in a 58-day stretch, losing only four total sets and defeating nine ranked opponents, before falling in three sets in the NCAA semifinals.
Perez-Somarriba was among a select group of just 11 freshmen in the nation to garner ITA All-America status, including one of only seven to do so in singles.
Miami was one of two schools in the ACC to have a player on the list, with Perez-Somarriba among the four honorees—three of whom were in singles—from the conference.
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