Oct. 20, 2007
ATHENS, Ga. – Five Yellow Jackets advanced through the first two rounds of singles, led by two-time defending champion and top-seeded Kristi Miller, on the opening day of the 2007 ITA South Region Championships, which is being played at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Georgia.
Joining Miller in the round of 16 will be third-seeded Amanda McDowell, seventh-seeded Maya Johansson and Christy Striplin and Kirsten Flower, a pair of the top-16 seeds in the singles tournament.
Miller breezed to a 6-3, 6-0 win over USF’s Liz Cruz in her first round match before battling for a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 victory against Miami’s Romy Farah in the round of 32. McDowell knocked off Florida State’s Carolin Walter, 6-4, 6-1, and notched a 7-5, 6-1 win against USF’s Jannete Bejlkova in the round of 32.
Fresh off a semifinal showing at the ITA All-American Championships, Johansson continued her strong play with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against the Seminoles’ Ania Rynarzewska and a 6-3, 7-5 win vs. Miami’s Caren Seenauth.
Striplin dropped just three games en route to a 6-1, 6-2 win against USF’s Natalie Guevara and stopped Georgia State’s Martina Nitkova, 7-6 (8), 6-1, to advance to the round of 16.
After recording a comeback win against Alabama’s Tiffany Welcher in the first round, Flower delivered a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Elvira Serrot of UCF to advance to the third round.
Only one Yellow Jacket, eighth-seeded Whitney McCray, failed to advance past the first round, falling in straight sets to Florida State’s Katie Rybakova. Freshman Noelle Hickey stunned Georgia’s sixth-seeded Monika Dancevic with a 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-1 victory in the first round, but couldn’t advance past Miami’s Bianca Eichkorn in round number two, falling in straight sets.
Action resumes Sunday at 8 a.m. with two rounds of doubles followed by one round of singles. Complete brackets with updated start times are available at GeorgiaDogs.com.
(R64) No. 1 Kristi Miller (GT) def. Liz Cruz (USF), 6-3, 6-0(R64) No. 3 Amanda McDowell (GT) def. Carolin Walter (Florida State), 6-4, 6-1(R64) No. 7 Maya Johansson (GT) def. Ania Rynarzewska (Florida State), 6-2, 6-3(R64) No. 9-16 Christy Striplin (GT) def. Natalie Guevara (USF), 6-1, 6-2(R64) No. 9-16 Kirsten Flower (GT) def. Tiffany Welcher (Alabama), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3(R64) Noelle Hickey (GT) def. No. 6 Monika Dancevic (Georgia), 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-1(R64) Katie Rybakova (Florida State) def. No. 8 Whitney McCray (GT), 7-5, 6-4(R32) No. 1 Miller (GT) def. Romy Farah (Miami), 6-3, 3-6, 6-0(R32) No. 3 McDowell (GT) def. Jannete Bejlkova (USF), 7-5, 6-1(R32) No. 7 Johansson (GT) def. Caren Seenauth (Miami), 6-3, 7-5(R32) No. 9-16 Striplin (GT) def. Martina Nitkova (Georgia State), 7-6 (8), 6-1(R32) No. 9-16 Flower (GT) def. Elvira Serrot (UCF), 6-3, 6-2(R32) Bianca Eichkorn (Miami) def. Hickey (GT), 6-0, 6-2
