May 10, 2008
ATLANTA – Noelle Hickey teamed with Whitney McCray for a comeback win in doubles play before clinching match point with a straight-set victory at No. 6 singles to help third-ranked Georgia Tech (21-5) to a 4-0 win over No. 25 Tennessee (15-10) Saturday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
With the victory, the Yellow Jackets punched their ticket to the NCAA Round of 16 for the third-straight year, and will face either Florida State or Texas Thursday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa.
The Yellow Jackets captured the doubles point when Hickey and McCray completed a comeback win at the No. 2 position after the two teams split matches on courts one and three. Hickey and McCray fell behind, 1-6, but won five-straight games to tie the match at 6-6 before pulling out a 9-7 victory against Ghizela Schutte and Rosalia Alda to capture the doubles point.
The Yellow Jacket duo of Kirsten Flower and Christy Striplin downed Connor Vogel and Jennifer Meredith, 8-5, at the No. 3 spot seconds before 16th-ranked Caitlin Whoriskey and Zsofia Zubor stopped Tech’s top doubles tandem of Kristi Miller and Sasha Krupina, 8-6.
A 6-2, 6-0 win by seventh-ranked Amanda McDowell at the No. 2 singles spot pushed Tech’s lead to 2-0 before Striplin gave the Jackets a 3-0 edge with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Vogel at the No. 4 singles line.
Hickey then completed the sweep for the Yellow Jackets when she knocked off Alda, 6-4, 6-4, at the sixth singles position.
Tennis Match ResultsTennessee vs Georgia TechMay 10, 2008 at Atlanta, Ga.
#3 Georgia Tech 4, #25 Tennessee 0
Singles competition 1. #10 Kristi Miller (GT) vs. #41 Caitlin Whoriskey (UT) 6-4, 5-4, unfinished 2. #7 Amanda McDowell (GT) def. Ghizela Schutte (UT) 6-2, 6-0 3. #51 Whitney McCray (GT) vs. Samantha Orlin (UT) 6-4, 5-4, unfinished 4. #77 Christy Striplin (GT) def. Connor Vogel (UT) 6-0, 6-2 5. #46 Kirsten Flower (GT) vs. Zsofia Zubor (UT) 3-6, 6-0, 1-2, unfinished 6. Noelle Hickey (GT) def. Rosalia Alda (UT) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles competition 1. #16 Whoriskey/Zubor (UT) def. Miller/Sasha Krupina (GT) 8-6 2. Hickey/McCray (GT) def. Schutte/Alda (UT) 9-7 3. Flower/Striplin (GT) def. Vogel/Jennifer Meredith (UT) 8-5
Match Notes: Tennessee 15-10; National ranking #25 Georgia Tech 21-5; National ranking #3 Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,4,6)
