Jan. 24, 2008

Miami Wins Spring Opener Over FAU

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The No. 36 University of Miami men's tennis team swept doubles play to set the tone early, as the Hurricanes defeated Florida Atlantic, 6-1, to open their spring season on Thursday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

Miami went on to win five of six singles matches, including a 7-5, 6-4 win for No. 7 Daniel Vallverdu over FAU's No. 56 Olivier Sajous.

"Today was a good test for us," said fourth-year Miami head coach Mario Rincon, who has led the Hurricanes to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. "I wasn't sure how we would play in our first match of the season, but I saw some good things out there. I also saw some things we need to work on in all of the positions, but we competed hard against a solid team.

"Danny [Vallverdu] had a great win in singles today over a tough opponent, and I'm pleased to see that our freshmen have continued to improve."

Miami took the 1-0 lead over Florida Atlantic after winning all three doubles contests, including an 8-4 victory for the 18th-ranked duo of Vivek Subramanian and David Rosenfeld in the No. 2 position.

Subramanian cruised to a 6-2, 6-4 victory in singles competition at the No. 4 position, while freshman Keith Crawley made his UM spring debut with a dominating 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 5 to put the Hurricanes ahead, 3-0.

Marc Abdelnour picked up FAU's lone point with a victory at No. 2.

The Hurricanes claimed the team victory with a tough Sundberg win at the No. 3 position. He knocked off FAU's Joe Cadogan, 7-5, 7-5, to increase UM's advantage to 4-1.

Miami returns to action at home on Friday with a 10:30 a.m. match versus Samford.