March 22, 2015
THE FLATS – The #57 Georgia Tech women’s tennis team (6-6, 3-3 ACC) won a 4-3 battle against #32 Notre Dame (10-6, 4-3 ACC) at the Ken Byers Tennis complex on Sunday afternoon.
Freshman Johnnie Renaud, junior Kendal Woodard, freshman Alexis Prokopuik and sophomore Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer all won their singles matches to help the Yellow Jackets break a two-match losing streak. Prokopuik clinched the first match of her career after taking down her opponent on court five in singles and Woodard won both her singles and doubles matches against the Fighting Irish.
“It was a very tough match and we played a number of tough matches this year,” head coach Rodney Harmon said. “It was nice to win a 4-3 match against a really, really good Notre Dame team that just came off a good win against FSU. They have a lot of good players on their team so we were fortunate to play well. We will get a little bit of rest and we have to get ready for a tough Northwestern team that is going to come in here on Wednesday. We are excited about the win but we have to get ready for Northwestern.”
The Yellow Jackets started off the match in a 1-0 hole after dropping the doubles points for only the fourth time this season. However, the Jackets started off the doubles portion of the match with a win on court one. The #35-ranked doubles pair of junior Kendal Woodard and freshman Paige Hourigan stayed undefeated in dual matches and won their sixth-straight match after defeating #21 Quinn Gleason and Monica Robinson, 8-6.
Notre Dame would win the next two doubles matches to claim the first point of the match. #55 Allison Miller and Julie Vrabel defeated Prokopuik and junior Natasha Prokhnevska, 8-4. It was a battle on court three between Renaud and sophomore Rasheeda McAdoo and Notre Dame’s Mary Closs and Jane Fennelly. Down 7-5, Renaud and McAdoo forced a tiebreaker, winning two games to make it 7-7. The Fighting Irish won the tiebreaker, 7-4, to secure the doubles point.
The Jackets were quick to tie up the match at 1-1 thanks to a win on court one by #92 Renaud. Renaud took down Gleason in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.
Vrabel won against Prokhnevska, 6-3, 6-2, at the number three spot to give Notre Dame back the lead. The remaining four singles matches would all go to three sets.
Woodard recorded her team-best fourth ACC singles win on court four against Closs. After winning a 7-5 battle in the first set, Woodard stumbled in the second, falling 6-1. Woodard rebounded to win the third set and tie the match back up at two all.
On court two, Hourgian battled Robinson and fell in the first set, 6-3. Hourigan came back to win set two, 6-4, but lost in the third frame, 6-1 and Notre Dame was back on top, 3-2.
The Jackets recorded two critical wins on courts five and six to secure their third ACC victory.
Sophomore Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer faced Fennelly on court six. Fennelly edged Anton-Ohlmeyer, 7-6, (7-1) in set one. Anton-Ohlmeyer didn’t let the close loss affect her for she cruised to 6-0, 6-0 victories in the next two sets to tie the score yet again.
The decisive point came on court five where Prokopuik was matched up against Miller. Prokopuik took set one, 6-2, while Miller claimed set two, 6-3. Prokopuik and Miller stayed neck and neck in set three, but Prokopuik came out on top, 7-5, and clinched the 4-3 win for the Yellow Jackets.
The Yellow Jackets wrap up their home stand against Northwestern at home on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the Ken Byers Tennis complex.
Tennis Match Results
Notre Dame vs Georgia Tech
Mar 22, 2015 at Atlanta, Ga.
(Ken Byers Tennis Complex)
#57 Georgia Tech 4, #32 Notre Dame 3
Singles competition
1. #92 Johnnise Renaud (GT) def. Quinn Gleason (ND) 6-1, 6-2
2. Monica Robinson (ND) def. #64 Paige Hourigan (GT) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
3. Julie Vrabel (ND) def. Natasha Prokhnevska (GT) 6-3, 6-2
4. Kendal Woodard (GT) def. Mary Closs (ND) 7-5, 1-6, 7-5
5. Alexis Prokopuik (GT) def. Allison Miller (ND) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
6. Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer (GT) def. Jane Fennelly (ND) 6-7 (1-7), 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #35 Kendal Woodard/Paige Hourigan (GT) def. #21 Quinn Gleason/Monica Robinson (ND) 8-6
2. #55 Allison Miller/Julie Vrabel (ND) def. Alexis Prokopuik/Natasha Prokhnevska (GT) 8-4
3. Mary Closs/Jane Fennelly (ND) def. Johnnise Renaud/Rasheeda McAdoo (GT) 8-7 (7-4)
Match Notes:
Notre Dame 10-6, 4-3 ACC; National ranking #32
Georgia Tech 6-6, 3-3 ACC; National ranking #57
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,3,4,2,6,5)
T-3:55
