College Tennis News - 4 Top-Ranked Teams to Compete @ Spring Invite

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The ninth-ranked University of Miami women's tennis team will play host to No. 11 Texas, No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 26 Vanderbilt in the Miami Spring Invite, held this Friday through Sunday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

The invite is the premier tournament of the early season and the Canes are excited to be a part of it.

"As a program we are fired up to compete against these top teams in country in three consecutive days," said Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews. "This weekend is going to tell us a lot about our team and a lot about us as individuals.

"This is the type of competition we need to play early in our season in order to improve later in the year."

As a team, the Hurricanes have earned two very impressive wins to start the season. Miami opened the year on the road at nearby FAU, defeating the Owls, 7-0. Two days later on Jan. 13, UM welcomed No. 24 Illinois to the Neil Schiff Tennis Center and reeled-off another 7-0 win.

"I think the team is moving forward, as a unit, really well," Yaroshuk-Tews said. It's something that we're really focusing on and we're seeing the girls working together, they're pushing one another and the freshmen are really stepping up."

HURRICANE FACTS

    The Canes' 2013 spring roster features five freshmen and no seniors. New to the program this season are, Monique Albuquerque, Kelsey Laurente, Clementina Riobueno, Deborah Suarez and Stefanie Wagner.
    Of the 16 ranked opponents on Miami's schedule, 10 ended last season among the Top 25 and three among the Top 10. In addition to having one of the deepest conference schedules in the nation, UM will face at least 10 ranked non-conference foes.
    Against FAU in the season opener on Jan. 11, Miami won 7-0. However, the Canes didn't even drop a set in either doubles or singles.
    The Hurricanes have advanced to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals (Elite Eight) in each of the last four seasons.

MIAMI SPRING INVITE FORMAT OF PLAY
There will be no team scoring at this weekend's event, as everyone is competing as an individual.

Each team will play three rounds of doubles and three rounds of singles. There will be eight flights in singles and four flights in doubles. Each day will consist of eight doubles matches and 16 singles matches. The third set will be played to completion in singles. Points will be allotted for each win based on the following decreasing point value to determine the champion (singles and doubles) at the end of the weekend.

Win at No. 1 position -- 8 points
Win at No. 2 position -- 7 points
Win at No. 3 position -- 6 points
Win at No. 4 position -- 5 points
Win at No. 5 position -- 4 points
Win at No. 6 position -- 3 points
Win at No. 7 position -- 2 points
Win at No. 8 position -- 1 point

MIAMI SPRING INVITE SCHEDULE OF PLAY
Friday, Jan. 18
9 a.m. Courts 1-4 - Doubles - Miami vs. Texas | Singles to follow - Miami vs. Vanderbilt
9 a.m. Courts 5-8 - Doubles - Texas A&M vs. Vanderbilt | Singles to follow - Texas vs. Texas A&M

Saturday, Jan. 19
9 a.m. Courts 1-4 - Doubles - Miami vs. Vanderbilt | Singles to follow - Miami vs. Texas A&M
9 a.m. Courts 5-8 - Doubles - Texas A&M vs. Texas | Singles to follow - Texas vs. Vanderbilt

Sunday, Jan. 20
9 a.m. Courts 1-4 - Doubles - Miami vs. Texas A&M | Singles to follow - Miami vs. Texas
9 a.m. Courts 5-8 - Doubles - Texas vs. Vanderbilt | Singles to follow - Texas A&M vs. Vanderbilt

UP NEXT
ITA KICKOFF
Friday, Jan. 25 -- vs. Hawaii (Neil Schiff Tennis Center), 10 a.m.
Saturday, Jan. 26 -- vs. Arizona State or Oklahoma (Neil Schiff Tennis Center), Time TBA