July 15, 2008
ATLANTA – Three members of the 2008 Georgia Tech women’s tennis team – Kristi Miller, Whitney McCray and Christy Striplin – competed in this week’s $10,000 Sugar Creek Tennis Experience, a USTA Pro Circuit Event being held at the Sugar Creek Tennis Center.
Miller and Striplin advanced to the main draw with singles wins in the finals of the qualifying round Tuesday morning. Miller stopped Claire Bartlett, 6-3, 6-4, and Striplin cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Russia’s Nika Kukharchuk.
Miller continued her strong play Wednesday when she stopped Anna Lubinsky, ranked No. 779 in the world, in a three-set match, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, but Striplin saw her singles run come to an end with a 6-1, 6-0 loss to Zuzana Zemenova. Miller will face the tournament’s No. 7 seed, Nicole Gibbs, Thursday at 9 a.m.
Miller and Striplin both advanced to the main doubles draw, which began Tuesday afternoon. Striplin and USC standout Amanda Fink received a wildcard into the main doubles draw and won their first match 6-1, 2-6, 10-2 to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals. Miller, who teamed with Sanaz Marand to advance to the semifinals of their last professional tournament, has paired up with the former Tar Heel again this weekend and received a qualifying bid into the main draw. The duo defeated Erica Krisan and Stephanie Roy, 7-5, 6-1, in the qualifying tournament to advance and began main draw play with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over fourth-seeded Eden D’Oliveira and Phoebe Di Leo Wednesday. Miller and Marand will meet Striplin and Fink in the quarterfinals Thursday afternoon.
McCray advanced to the second round of the qualifying draw this week before falling in a three-set match to Petra Padalikova.
