Oct. 1, 2008
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Georgia Tech freshman Irina Falconi knocked off the qualifying draws top seed Wednesday to advance to the singles main draw at the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Falconi, a native of Jupiter, Fla., defeated Atlantic Coast Conference foe and the qualifying draw’s No. 1 seed Katie Rybakova of Florida State, 7-5, 6-1. She will join junior Amanda McDowell, who opens play Thursday in the singles main draw as the tournament’s No. 3 seed against Jessica Nguyen of Stanford. Falconi will play Katsiaryna Zheltova of Sacramento State in the first round.
Earlier in the day, McDowell and Falconi defeated No. 21 Sanaz Marand and Katrina Tsang of North Carolina, 8-3, in the second round of the doubles qualifying draw. The Yellow Jacket duo would then punch their ticket into the doubles main draw by beating Ani Mijacika and Federica Van Adrichem of Clemson, 8-6.
“Irina played so well today that I saw a level out of her that I haven’t seen before,” head coach Bryan Shelton said. “She was just having fun out there playing. It is nice to see her have such a great start. Also to watch Amanda and Irina come together so well to beat two really good doubles teams was very exciting for me.”
Senior Christy Striplin and sophomore Noelle Hickey dropped their second round doubles match, 8-4, to LSU’s 11th-ranked Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg
For more information on the 2008 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, please click here.
– RamblinWreck.com –
Georgia Tech’s Wednesday Results
Singles
QR3 – Irina Falconi (GT) def. Katie Rybakova (Florida St.), 7-5, 6-1
Doubles
QR2 – McDowell/Falconi (GT) def. Marand/Tsang (North Carolina), 8-3
QR2 – Falcon/Hedberg (LSU) def. Striplin/Hickey (GT), 8-4
QR3 – McDowell/Falconi (GT) def. Mijacika/Van Adrichem (Clemson), 8-6
