May 25, 2008
ATLANTA – One day after becoming the first Yellow Jacket in school history to compete in the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championships, sophomore All-American Amanda McDowell has become the first women’s tennis player at Georgia Tech to advance to the NCAA championship match, as she will square off against Baylor’s Zuzana Zemenova for the national title Monday at 2 p.m. at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
McDowell won her semifinal match over No. 9-16 seeded Fani Chifchieva, 6-3, 6-2, one day after knocking off UCLA’s Tracy Lin by the same score in the quarterfinals.
The win was McDowell’s school-record 44th of the season, and she currently holds an 83-18 career singles record through two years on the Flats.
After recording a 6-3 win in her first set, McDowell won the first three games of the second set before dropping two to the Auburn standout. The Atlanta native then finished off the straight-set win by sweeping her last three games to push her into the championship match.
McDowell has now won seven-straight sets, and has dropped just one out of her last 11 sets on her run to the title match.
Zemenova won the NCAA Singles title as a freshman in 2005, and reached the 2008 title match with a straight-set victory over top-seeded Aurelija Miseviciute in the other semifinal match Sunday.
Live stats and a live video broadcast of the championship match will be available at tulsahurricane.com. The match will be broadcast next weekend on ESPNU at a time to be announced at a later date.
Georgia Tech Singles SemifinalsNo. 7 Amanda McDowell (GT) d. No. 9-16 Fani Chifchieva (Auburn), 6-3, 6-2
Georgia Tech Singles Quarterfinals McDowell (GT) d. Lenka Broosova (Baylor), 6-3, 6-2
Georgia Tech Singles Round of 16 McDowell (GT) d. Tracy Lin (UCLA), 6-4, 6-2
Georgia Tech Singles Round of 32 McDowell (GT) d. Gira Schofield (South Carolina), 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 Claire Ilcinkas (California) d. No. 9-16 Kristi Miller (GT), 7-6, 0-6, 6-4
Georgia Tech Singles Round of 64 McDowell (GT) d. Amanda Taylor (Vanderbilt), 1-6, 7-6, 6-1 Miller (GT) d. Danielle Steinberg (Arizona), 6-3, 6-3 No. 9-16 Melanie Gloria (Fresno State) d. Kirsten Flower (GT), 6-3, 6-0 Chisako Sugiyama (Michigan) d. Maya Johansson (GT), 6-3, 6-4 Kellie Schmitt (Marshall) d. Whitney McCray (GT), 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
Georgia Tech Doubles Round of 32 Macall Harkins/Anna Sydorska (TCU) d. Miller/McCray (GT), 6-1, 7-6 (3)
