May 23, 2009

Miami's Cohen, Vallverdu Move on to NCAA Tennis Semifinals
Julia Cohen and Laura Vallverdu each collected three-set wins on Saturday, earning trips into the semifinals of this year's NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championships at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas.

The NCAA men's singles semifinal matches will now be played on Sunday, May 24 at 10:00 a.m. (CT) followed by women's singles semifinals at 11:30 a.m. (CT), men's doubles semifinals at 1:00 p.m. (CT) and women's doubles semifinals not before 2:30 p.m. (CT). All of Sunday's matches were originally slated for a noon (CT) start.

For the first time in school history, Miami will have two of the final four participants represented in the NCAA Semifinals of the women's tennis singles tournament. Before today, just three players in the history of the program had advanced into the semifinals, including 2007 NCAA Champion Audra Cohen. The other two, UM volunteer assistant coach Megan Bradley in 2004, and current University of Michigan head coach Ronni Reis (Bernstein) in 1988. 

Cecil Drops No. 3 Seed Miseviciute To Advance To Semifinal Round
Duke University freshman Mallory Cecil continued her stellar season today with a victory over Arkansas’ Aurelija Miseviciute in the NCAA Individual Tournament quarterfinal. The fifth-seeded Cecil advances to the semifinal round to be played on May 24.

Cecil defeated No. 3 seed Miseviciute in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3 to earn a spot in the semifinal round of the NCAA Individual Tournament. The Spartanburg, S.C., native is the first Blue Devil to advance to the round of four since Vanessa Webb took home the national title in 1998.

Winning her fourth match in tournament action, Cecil pushes her overall record to 30-4 this season. Leading 4-3, Cecil captured the eighth game to go up 5-3. She closed the set out in the next game and continued to roll in the second set to win 6-3, 6-3. The win over the No. 3 Miseviciute is the second for Cecil in the past week over the Arkansas foe as she earned a victory over the Razorback in the team competition. Cecil has not dropped a set during the four matches. 

Marand Falls In NCAA Quarters
North Carolina junior Sanaz Marand saw her run at the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship end Saturday with a 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 loss to Miami's Julia Cohen at Texas A&M's Mitchell Tennis Center. Marand completes her 2008-09 campaign with a singles record of 29-14, including a 20-8 mark in dual match play, and All-America honors in both singles and doubles.

Saturday's national quarterfinal match with No. 2 overall seed Cohen was tight throughout the first two sets, with both players winning a set, 7-5. After Cohen broke Marand at 5-all in the first, the Miami junior served out the set for the lead. Marand then raced out to a 4-1 lead in the second set and held on to even match at a set apiece.

But Cohen scored an early break in the third and deciding set and quickly led 4-0. With Marand serving at 15-30 in the fifth game of the set, play was suspended due to inclement weather and the two players were forced to endure a delay of more than an hour. 

Clemson Doubles Fall In NCAA Quarterfinals On Saturday
Josipa Bek and Ina Hadziselimovic suffered a three-set loss on Saturday afternoon, ending the Clemson duo’s run in the 2009 NCAA Women’s Tennis Doubles Championships. They were just the fourth team in school history to reach the quarterfinals of the national tournament, held this year at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center on the campus of Texas A&M University.

The Tiger tandem was edged by Tennessee’s 10th-ranked team of Natalie Pluskota and Caitlin Whoriskey. The Volunteer duo won the first set by a narrow 6-4 margin, but Bek and Hadziselimovic rebounded with a 6-3 victory in the second to force the deciding third set. The teams were tied at two games apiece and traded the next four games to be even again at 4-4. Tennessee held serve to go up in the set and then led 40-0 on Bek’s serve. The Clemson pair fought off three match points for deuce and held off another as the Volunteers took the advantage. However, the Tigers could not overcome a fifth match-point as Tennessee clinched the match, 6-4.

Although Bek and Hadziselimovic are only the fourth doubles team in school history to advance past the second round, with their run, a Clemson team has now reached the elite eight three straight years. In doing so, they earned All-America honors in doubles for the 2009 season and finished with a 17-8 record. Bek also earned All-America status in singles by earning a national seed and winning a pair of matches in the NCAA Singles Championships.