Oct. 21, 2007
ATHENS, Ga. – Four Yellow Jacket women’s tennis players – Top-seeded Kristi Miller, third-seeded Amanda McDowell, and Nos. 9-16 seeds Kirsten Flower and Christy Striplin – have survived the first three rounds of singles competition to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2007 ITA South Region Championships, which are being played at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Georgia.
Two Yellow Jacket doubles teams also advanced to the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament, including the top-seeded tandem of Miller and Whitney McCray, who posted an 8-1 victory over Ole Miss’ Nika Koukhartchouk and Preethi Subramanian in their opening match before knocking off Florida State’s Katie Rybakova and Jessica Wente, 8-4, in the round of 16.
Tech’s Kirsten Flower and Maya Johansson dispatched Georgia State’s Martina Nitkova and Mateja Podgorsek, 8-6, in their first match of the tournament and then blanked Kennesaw State’s Madeleine Hakansson and Ayano Tanaka, 8-0, in the second round.
All four of Tech’s singles winners on the day earned straight-set victories over Southeastern Conference standouts to advance to the third day of competition. Miller stopped Georgia’s Cameron Ellis, 7-5, 6-4 while Flower defeated Ellis’ teammate, Naoko Ueshima, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the third round. Striplin stunned Florida’s 12th-ranked Diana Srebrovic, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, 6-4, 6-3, and McDowell downed Auburn’s Melissa Koning, 6-3, 7-5.
Also picking up a singles win on the day was McCray, who dropped just three games en route to a 6-3, 6-0 win against Ole Miss’ Subramanian in the consolation bracket.
Joining the four Yellow Jackets in the quarterfinal round Monday will be Miami’s Laura Vallverdu, the tournament’s No. 4 singles seed; Georgia’s Kelley Hyndman, one of the top 16 seeds in the singles draw; Rybakova, who knocked off McCray, the No. 8 seed, in the opening round Friday; and Miami’s Bianca Eichkorn, who eliminated the Jackets’ Noelle Hickey in the second round Friday afternoon.
Play resumes Monday with consolation singles beginning at 8 a.m. to be followed by main draw singles scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Doubles will be played following two rounds of singles and not before noon.
ITA South Region ChampionshipsOct 20-23, 2007 at Athens, Ga.
Singles competition 64 #5 Kristi Miller (GT) def. Liz Cruz (USF) 6-3, 6-0 64 #60 Amanda McDowell (GT) def. Carolin Walter (FSU) 6-4, 6-1 64 Maya Johansson (GT) def. #94 Ania Rynarzewska (FSU) 6-2, 6-3 64 #42 Christy Striplin (GT) def. Natalia Guevara (USF) 6-1, 6-2 64 #23 Kirsten Flower (GT) def. Tiffany Welcher (Alabama) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 64 Noelle Hickey (GT) def. #22 Monika Dancevic (UGA) 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 6-1 64 Katie Rybakova (FSU) def. #64 Whitney McCray (GT) 7-5, 6-4 32 #5 Kristi Miller (GT) def. Romy Farah (Miami) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 32 #60 Amanda McDowell (GT) def. Janette Bejlkova (USF) 7-5, 6-1 32 Maya Johansson (GT) def. Caren Seenauth (Miami) 6-3, 7-5 32 #42 Christy Striplin (GT) def. Martina Nitkova (Georgia State) 7-6 (10-8), 6-1 32 #23 Kirsten Flower (GT) def. Elvira Serrot (UCF) 6-3, 6-2 32 Bianca Eichkorn (Miami) def. Noelle Hickey (GT) 6-0, 6-2 C32 Whitney McCray (GT) def. Preethi Subramanian (Mississippi) 6-3, 6-0 16 #5 Kristi Miller (GT) def. Cameron Ellis (UGA) 7-5, 6-4 16 #23 Kirsten Flower (GT) def. Naoko Ueshima (UGA) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 16 #60 Amanda McDowell (GT) def. Melissa Koning (Auburn) 6-3, 7-5 16 #125 Kelley Hyndman (GT) def. Maya Johansson (GT) 6-1, 6-1 16 #42 Christy Striplin (GT) def. #12 Diana Srebrovic (Florida) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles competition 32 McCray/ Miller (GT) def. Nika Koukhartchouk/ Subramanian (Mississippi) 8-1 32 Flower/ Johansson (GT) def. Nitkova/Mateja Podgorsek (Georgia State) 8-6 32 Seenauth/ Farah (Miami) def. Hickey/ Striplin (GT) 8-4 16 McCray/ Miller (GT) def. Rybakova/Jessica Wente (FSU) 8-4 16 Flower/ Johansson (GT) def. Madeleine Hakansson/Ayano Tanaka (KSU) 8-0
Tournament notes Singles Seeds: No. 1 – Miller (GT), 2 – Srebrovic (UF), 3 – McDowell (GT), 4 – Vallverdu (UM), 6 – Dancevic (UGA), 7 – Johansson (GT), 8 – McCray (GT), 9-16: Flower (GT), Striplin (GT), KHyndman (UGA) Doubles Seeds: No. 1 – Miller/McCray (GT), 5-8: Flower/Johansson (GT)
