Jan. 21, 2007

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The No. 11 University of Miami men's tennis team defeated the University of North Florida, 6-1, in its dual season opener on Sunday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

The Hurricanes (1-0) swept all three doubles matches versus the upstart Ospreys (0-2), competing in just their second season in NCAA Division I, and took five of six singles matches.

At the No. 1 position, senior All-American Luigi D'Agord (Freeport, Bahamas) bounced back from a first-set loss to win 6-7, 6-2, 6-2, over UNF's Matias Sigal. Both senior Josh Cohen (Weston, Fla./Laurel Springs) and sophomore All-American Daniel Vallverdu (Valencia, Venezuela) cruised to wins for the Hurricanes, at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, respectively. Both Cohen and Vallverdu won with scores of 6-1, 6-1.

Miami freshmen Hector Nieto (Key Biscayne, Fla./Coral Gables) and Barnabas Carrega (Basiglio, Italy) were also victorious in their opening matches. Playing at the No. 4 position, Nieto knocked off UNF's Ben Smith, 6-2, 6-3, while Carrega battled past Elad Gabay, 6-4, 7-5, in the No. 5 spot.

The lone Osprey point was won by Leonardo Gomes, knocking off Miami freshman J.C. Whitner (Bradenton, Fla./Pendleton) in the No. 6 position, 6-4, 6-4.

The Hurricanes return to the court at home versus Stetson on Wednesday, January 24, at 3 p.m. Admission to all regular-season matches at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center is free.

North Florida at No. 11 Miami
January 21, 2007
Miami 6, UNF 1

Singles
1. Luigi D'Agord (UM) def. Matias Sigal (UNF); 6-7, 6-2, 6-2
2. Josh Cohen (UM) def. Javier Ferrin (UNF); 6-1, 6-1
3. Daniel Vallverdu (UM) def. Eduardo Pereira (UNF); 6-1, 6-1
4. Hector Nieto (UM) def. Ben Smith (UNF); 6-2, 6-3
5. Barnabas Carrega (UM) def. Elad Gabay (UNF); 6-4, 7-5
6. Leonardo Gomes (UNF) def. J.C. Whitner (UM); 6-4, 6-4

Doubles
1. D'Agord/Cohen (UM) def. Sigal/Smith (UNF); 8-4
2. Vallverdu/Nieto (UM) def. Gomes/Ferrin (UNF); 9-8
3. Carrega/Whitner (UM) def. Gabay/Pereira (UNF); 9-8