April 25, 2015
Championship ESPN3 Link | ACC Tournament Central
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Junior Megan Kurey was the catalyst for Georgia Tech, winning her third set, 7-5, against Florida State to secure a 4-3 victory and send the #25 Georgia Tech women’s tennis team into the ACC Championship match.
Five of six singles matches headed into three sets in the semifinal – a true testament to the battle between the two ACC opponents. With the score knotted at 3-3, all eyes were on court five where Kurey was matched up against Florida State’s (16-11, 6-8 ACC) Daniela Schippers. Kurey was down in set one 2-0 and responded with winning six-straight games to take the set 6-2. Down 3-0 in set two, Kurey rallied yet again to tie up the score at three all, but Schippers won the next three games to send it into a third set.
Kurey held a 5-2 lead in the decisive frame, but Schippers fought back to win the next three games, tying up the score at 5-5. The outcome on the match rested on this set for the Seminoles had evened the score at 3-3 after a win on court three.
Kurey held her composure and won the next set to make it 6-5. Kurey jumped out ahead 30-love in the match-winning game and after some back-and-forth play, the junior captain led, 40-30. On the next point, Schippers hit the ball into the net and Kurey’s 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 victory was secured.
The #6 seed Yellow Jackets (16-8, 9-5 ACC) face #4 seed Virginia tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the ACC Tournament Title at 2 p.m. at the Cary Tennis Park on ESPN3. This marks the fifth time the Jackets will appear in the ACC Championship match since 1986. Georgia Tech is 4-0 in ACC Championship matches, having won the ACC Tournament Title in all four appearances in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010. This is the Jackets’ first appearance in the title match under head coach Rodney Harmon.
“I think our team wanted this opportunity to compete against Florida State because they beat us at our place and there were a lot of three-set matches and it was a tough match,” head coach Rodney Harmon said. “I think we had a lot to prove when we came out. Kudos to Florida State because this was their fourth match and they have played tremendously here at this tournament. They fought on every court. Each match was really, really tough especially the last match with Megan. We were fortunate that our girls kept fighting and kept trying to find a way to win and kept believing. We are very happy to be moving forward and to play Virginia tomorrow.”
The Yellow Jackets started off the match against #73 Florida State (16-11, 6-8 ACC) on the right foot, winning the doubles point. After #16 Woodard and Hourigan breezed to an 8-0 win on court one against #69 Yukako Noi and Daneika Borthwick , there were two battles brewing on courts two and three.
On court two, Kurey and sophomore Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer fell behind 4-1 to #63 Emily Fanning and Castaneda but battled back to come within one at 4-3. The Jackets found themselves down, 7-4, but won two-straight games to close the game to 7-6. Meanwhile on court three, freshman Johnnise Renaud and sophomore Rasheeda McAdoo were ahead 6-4, but FSU’s Mia Vriens and Kerrie Cartwright hung in to knot the score at six-all.
Fanning and Castaneda would win the winning game on court two to defeat Anton-Ohlmeyer and Kurey, 8-6, putting the deciding match on court three, where the Seminoles had fought to tie it, 7-7.
During the tiebreaker on three, Renaud and McAdoo were trailing 5-2 to Florida State, before rallying to win the next five points to win the tiebreaker and clinch the doubles point for the Yellow Jackets with an 8-7(7-5) win.
Hourigan was the first to tack on another point for Georgia Tech, rolling to her fifth-straight singles win. On court two, the #53-ranked singles player won in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-2, against Noi.
The remaining singles matches all went into a third set.
Prokopuik, who lost her first set on court six, 6-1, bounced back to defeat Fanning, 6-3, in the second frame. Fanning then rallied to win 6-0 tallying the Seminoles first point.
In the first set against Vrians, McAdoo stumbled, losing 6-1, but came out firing in set two, going ahead 3-0. McAdoo clung onto the lead and won 6-3, sending the match into a third set. Down 2-0 in set three, McAdoo won five-straight games to go ahead, 5-2. Vrians came back to cut McAdoo’s lead to 5-4 but McAdoo won the next game, pushing the Jackets’ lead to 3-1.
The #102-ranked Renaud was knotted 4-4 in her first set against Borthwick and picked up momentum to tally two wins in the next two games to win 6-4. Deadlocked at 5-5 in set two, Borthwick won 7-5 and then went on to win the second set, 6-3 to cut Tech’s lead to one, 3-2.
Woodard fought hard to stay alive after falling in set one, 7-5, against #116 Castaneda on court three. In set two, Woodard took a 6-5 lead but Castaneda won the next game, sending it into a tie breaker. In the tiebreaker, Woodard took a 4-1 lead. Castaneda clawed back to make it 4-3 but Woodard rolled through the next three points to win the tiebreaker, 7-3, and head into a third set. Castaneda won the third set, 6-1, putting the spotlight on court five, where Kurey delivered and secured the 4-3 victory.
Tennis Match Results
Florida State University vs Georgia Tech
Apr 25, 2015 at Chapel Hill, NC
(Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center)
Georgia Tech 4, Florida State University 3
Singles competition
- Daneika Borthwick (FS) def. Johnnise Renaud (GT) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
- Paige Hourigan (GT) def. Yukako Noi (FS) 6-3, 6-2
- Gabriella Castaneda (FS) def. Kendal Woodard (GT) 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1
- Rasheeda McAdoo (GT) def. Mia Vriens (FS) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
- Megan Kurey (GT) def. Daniela Schippers (FS) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
- Emily Fanning (FS) def. Alexis Prokopuik (GT) 1-6, 6-3, 6-0
Doubles competition
- Kendal Woodard/Paige Hourigan (GT) def. Daneika Borthwick/Yukako Noi (FS) 8-0
- Emily Fanning/Gabriella Castaneda (FS) def. Megan Kurey/Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer (GT) 8-6
- Rasheeda McAdoo/Johnnise Renaud (GT) def. Mia Vriens/Kerrie Cartwright (FS) 8-7 (7-5)
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,6,4,1,3,5)
–TogetherWeSwarm–
