Laura Vallverdu enters her first season as an assistant coach for the women's tennis program a season after serving as the team's volunteer assistant. Prior to that, Vallverdu was a graduate assistant coach for the women's tennis program. Vallverdu was a four-year (2006-10) letter winner under head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews.

 

A native of Valencia, Venezuela, Vallverdu is the Hurricanes' all-time leader in singles wins with 131 total. She reached the semifinals of the NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championships this spring to conclude her college career and ended the 2009-2010 season leading her team with 35 singles wins for a 35 -13 mark overall. She completed the doubles season at 19-6 with a #1 ranking and finished 21-12 against nationally ranked opponents. Vallverdu is the first player in University of Miami history to win at least 30 times in each of her four years. She is also a four-time All-American, the third four-time All-American in school history, and a four-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference, a first in the program's history.

 

In 2010, Vallverdu won the Honda Sports Award in tennis, designating her as the nation's top collegiate female athlete in the sport. The honor was based on the results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program.

 

Vallverdu graduated in 2010 with a degree in psychology and then earned her Master's in Sports & Exercise Psychology in 2012.