April 2, 2008
ATLANTA – Noelle Hickey clinched match point for the Yellow Jackets as No. 3 Georgia Tech (14-4, 6-1 ACC) rallied from a 2-3 deficit to take a 4-3 match win from No. 18 Florida State (13-4, 3-4 ACC) Wednesday evening in Tallahassee, Fla.
With the match tied at 3-3, Hickey dropped her first set to Ania Rynarzewska, 4-6, but breezed through her next two sets to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 and helped Georgia Tech remain atop the Atlantic Coast Conference standings with a 6-1 record in league play.
“The best thing about this match was that Noelle had nerves of steel,” said head coach Bryan Shelton. “She played so well in her first clinching match at Georgia Tech, and I thought that it was an unbelievable record by her today.”
The Yellow Jackets picked up 8-6 wins at the Nos. 2 and 3 doubles spots to take an early 1-0 lead in the match. Sophomores Kirsten Flower and Amanda McDowell dispatched the Seminole duo of Jessica Wente and Lauren Macfarlane at the No. 3 position before Hickey and Whitney McCray notched a victory against Carolin Walter and Tapiwa Marobela and No. 2 doubles.
The Seminoles tied the match at 1-1 when No. 30 Katie Rybakova knocked off Tech’s fourth-ranked McDowell, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 2 singles, but the Yellow Jackets regained the lead after No. 6 Kristi Miller blew past 72nd-ranked Macfarlane, 6-3, 6-2, atop the singles lineup.
Federica Suess downed 38th-ranked Flower, 7-6 (2), 6-3, and 92nd-ranked Walter downed No. 36 Whitney McCray to give Florida State the 3-2 advantage in the match, but the Seminoles suffered a major blow when Wente was forced to retire her match against No. 76 Christy Striplin after winning the first set, thus tying the match at 3-3.
TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
SINGLES 1. No. 6 Kristi Miller (GT) d. No. 72 Lauren Macfarlane (FSU), 6-3, 6-2 2. No. 30 Katie Rybakova (FSU) d. No. 4 Amanda McDowell (GT), 6-0, 6-2 3. No. 92 Carolin Walter (FSU) d. No. 36 Whitney McCray (GT), 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 4. No. 76 Christy Striplin (GT) d. Jessica Wente (FSU), 4-6, 4-2 (ret.) 5. Federica Suess (FSU) d. No. 39 Kirsten Flower (GT), 7-6 (2), 6-3 6. No. 100 Noelle Hickey (GT) d. Ania Rynarzewska (FSU), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
DOUBLES 1. Miller/Sasha Krupina (GT) v. No. 33 Rynarzewska/Rybakova (FSU), DNF 2. McCray/Hickey (GT) d. Walter/Tapiwa Marobela (FSU), 8-6 3. McDowell/Flower (GT) d. Wente/Macfarlane (FSU), 8-6
Order of Finish- Doubles (3,2,1) Singles (2,1,5,3,4,6)
–GT–
