THE FLATS — In just over an hour and a half of play, No. 4 Georgia Tech women’s tennis secured a spot in the NCAA Championship second round with a 4-0 triumph over Eastern Kentucky Friday afternoon. The Jackets made quick work of doubles and collected three straight-set singles victories to capture the win.
DOUBLES ACTION: Behind a pair of 6-0 victories, the Jackets took an early 1-0 match lead sealing the doubles point. Tech’s Johnnise Renaud and Nami Otsuka secured the early advantage with a 6-0 win at the three position over Laura Argente/Raquel Montalvo before Tech’s No. 1 duo of Paige Hourigan and Kenya Jones clinched the doubles point from the top seed. The Jackets raced to a 6-0 triumph over Kristina Lagoda and Viktorija Demcenkova to put Tech in the lead 1-0 entering singles play.
SINGLES ACTION: Despite falling behind 2-0 to open the match, sophomore Otsuka rolled to a straight-set singles win over Lisa Friess at No. 5. Trailing 0-2, Otsuka rattled off the next six points to take the first set and dropped only one game in the second set to pocket a 6-2, 6-1 decision over the Colonel. Finishing minutes behind Otsuka, freshman Ida Jarlskog pushed the Jackets in front 3-0 from the No. 5 position. Facing Alexdra Bella, No. 125 Jarlskog surrendered just one game en route to a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
Tech clinched the match from the No. 1 position as No. 14 Hourigan downed EKU’s Argente. The senior raced to a 6-0 first set and sealed the match win with a 6-2 second set victory, clinching the match at 4-0 for the Jackets.
QUOTABLE: “The girls did a good job. We’ve been really focusing on playing disciplined tennis and not donating a lot of points. We did that today, which we’ve been a little spotty toward the end of the year with it — we had one stretch where we were pretty solid with it. I felt like we played down the line reasonably well all day, which I thought was good.” — head coach Rodney Harmon
UP NEXT: Georgia Tech will face Winthrop on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the regional championship. The winner clinches a spot in the NCAA Championship round of 16 in Winston-Salem, N.C.
No. 4 GEORGIA TECH vs EASTERN KENTUCKY RESULTS
Match Score: Georgia Tech 4, Eastern Kentucky 0
DOUBLES
1. No. 1 Paige Hourigan/Kenya Jones (GT) def. Kristina Lagoda/Viktorija Demcenkova (EKU) 6-0
2. No. 48 Ida Jarlskog/Victoria Flores (GT) vs. Alexandra Belle/Lisa Friess (EKU) 5-0 DNF
3. Johnnise Renaud/Nami Otsuka (GT) def. Laura Argente/Raquel Montalvo (EKU) 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 1
SINGLES
1. 1. No. 14 Paige Hourigan (GT) def. Laura Argente (EKU) 6-0, 6-2
2. No. 60 Kenya Jones (GT) vs. Kristina Lagoda (EKU) 6-0, 4-4 DNF
3. Johnnise Renaud (GT) vs. Viktorija Demcenkova (EKU) 6-3, 5-1 DNF
4. No. 125 Ida Jarlskog (GT) def. Alexdra Belle (EKU) 6-1, 6-0
5. Nami Otsuka (GT) def. Lisa Friess (EKU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Victoria Flores (GT) vs. Margaux Lacroix (EKU) 6-4, 3-0
Order of finish: 5, 4, 1
Records: Georgia Tech (22-5); Eastern Kentucky (16-9)
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