Oct. 20, 2006
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Kristi Miller and Alison Silverio won three total matches Friday and Whitney McCray knocked off the second-seeded singles player as all eight Yellow Jacket competitors advanced to the third day of competition at the Wilson/ITA South Regional, which is being held at the Alabama Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Alabama.
McCray earned the top singles victory of her career Friday, stopping the tournament’s second-seeded singles player, ninth-ranked Diana Srebrovic of Florida, 5-7, 6-0, 6-3.
“Whitney was definitely one of the top five players in the nation today,” said Georgia Tech head coach Bryan Shelton after the victory. “I was also really happy to see that all of the hard work that the team has been putting in has been paying off this weekend. It was a good day, the team played well, and we really pulled through some tough matches today”
Overall, four unseeded Yellow Jackets earned wins over seeded singles players, while all three of the seeded Georgia Tech players earned straight-set victories.
Also recording three-set victories over seeded singles players were rookie Amanda Craddock and sophomore Christy Striplin. Craddock fought back after dropping her first set to seventh-seeded Courtney Vernon of South Florida to win, 5-7, 7-5, 3-0, ret., while Striplin’s match against ninth-seeded Monika Dancevic of Georgia resulted in a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 victory for the Yellow Jacket from Birmingham, Ala.
After the Yellow Jacket duo of Miller and Silverio started the day by winning a pair of doubles matches, both posted straight-set victories in the round of 32 of singles. Miller handed Florida State’s Lauren MacFarlane a 6-4, 6-1 loss while Silverio knocked off MacFarlane’s teammate Jessica Wente, 6-2, 7-6 (4).
The Yellow Jacket tandem, the No. 2 seed in the doubles tournament, stopped Auburn’s duo of Whitney Chappell and Melissa Koning, 8-2, before downing South Florida’s team of Vernon and Jessica Sweeting, 8-3, to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Tech’s final seeded singles player, Tarryn Rudman, battled Georgia’s Lara Fakhoury in the second round, stopping the Bulldog 6-3, 6-1 to advance to Saturday’s third round, while rookie Kirsten Flower played Fakhoury’s teammate Yvette Hyndman, the tournament’s No. 16 seed, in the second round, and defeated the Georgia standout in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
Rounding out the Georgia Tech winners on the day was freshman Amanda McDowell, who recorded a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Georgia State’s Martina Nitkova in the first round of consolation play Friday.
Georgia Tech’s ITA South Regional Results
() indicates latest ITA Ranking
Singles
(R64) No. 1 (2)Kristi Miller (GT) def. Anna Yakimchenkova (UCF), 6-0, 6-4
(R64) No. 8 (54) Alison Silverio (GT) def. (120) Romy Farah (Miami), 6-3, 6-1
(R64) No. 16 (74) Tarryn Rudman (GT) def. Csilla Borsanyi (UF), 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
(R64) Christy Striplin (GT) def. Valeriya Makarycheva (MSU), 6-3, 6-3
(R64) Amanda Craddock (GT) def. Adrienne Elsberry (UGA), 6-1, 6-1
(R64) Whitney McCray (GT) def. Jessica Sweeting (USF), 6-3, 7-6 (6)
(R64) Kirsten Flower (GT) def. Nischa Maier-Knapp (UAB), 6-2, 6-2
(R64) No. 4 (21) Natalie Frazier (UGA) def. Amanda McDowell (GT), 7-6 (3), 6-0
(R32) Miller (GT) def. Lauren MacFarlane (FSU), 6-4, 6-1
(R32) Silverio (GT) def. Jessica Wente (FSU), 6-2, 7-6 (4)
(R32) Rudman (GT) def. Lara Fakhoury (UGA), 6-3, 6-1
(R32) Striplin (GT) def. No. 9 (59) Monika Dancevic (UGA), 7-5, 4-6, 6-1
(R32) Craddock (GT) def. No. 7 (43) Courtney Vernon (USF), 5-7, 7-5, 3-0, ret.
(R32) McCray (GT) def. No. 2 (9) Diana Srebrovic (UF), 5-7, 6-0, 6-3
(R32) Flower (GT) def. No. 16 (125) Yvette Hyndman (UGA), 6-4, 6-4
(CR32) McDowell (GT) def. Martina Nitkova (GSU), 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
(R32) Miller/Silverio (GT) def. Whitney Chappell/Melissa Koning (Auburn), 8-2
(R32) Annabelle Bares/Stephanie Vieira (Troy) def. No. 8 Craddock/McCray (GT), 9-7
(R32) Michaela Babicova/Dijana Stanic (USA) def. McDowell/Striplin (GT), 8-2
(R32) MacFarlane/Nicola Slater (FSU) def. Flower/Rudman (GT), 8-6
(R16) Miller/Silverio (GT) def. Sweeting/Vernon (USF), 8-3
Saturday’s Singles Schedule:
(R16) Miller (GT) vs. Darya Ivanov (UGA), 12:30 p.m.
(R16) Silverio (GT) vs. No. 14 Rawia Elsisi (Troy), 12:30 p.m.
(R16) Rudman (GT) vs. Shadisha Robinson (UGA), 12:30 p.m.
(R16) Striplin (GT) vs. No. 6 Adriana Solarova (USA), 12:30 p.m.
(R16) Craddock (GT) vs. No. 13 Whitney Benik (UF), 12:30 p.m.
(R16) McCray (GT) vs. Carolin Walter (FSU), 12:30 p.m.
(R16) Flower (GT) vs. Ania Rynarzewska (FSU), 12:30 p.m.
(CR16) McDowell (GT) vs. No. 15 Fani Chifchieva (Auburn), 11 a.m.
