Feb. 5, 2007
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Georgia Tech’s Kirsten Flower has been selected Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Week after notching wins against two ranked opponents and helping her team knock off four ranked opponents, including No. 1 Stanford in the Intercollegiate National Team Indoor Team Championship in Madison, Wis., over the weekend.
The sixth-ranked Yellow Jackets also defeated No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 7 North Carolina and No. 13 Pepperdine in the four-day tournament.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Flower helped Georgia Tech become the first ACC team since 2003 to win the ITA National Team Indoor Tennis Championship with a 4-2 win over No. 4 Notre Dame in the finals on Sunday afternoon. En route to the championship match, Flower paced the Jackets to a 4-3 upset win over top-ranked Stanford on Saturday. The win ended the Cardinal’s NCAA-record 89-match winning streak.
The freshman also paired with fellow freshman Amanda Craddock to post a 3-1 mark in doubles last week. Flower and Craddock stopped Stanford’s powerful duo of Whitney Deason and Theresa Logar in the semifinals to clinch the doubles point for Tech. She also gave the Jackets a 2-0 lead in the match with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Cardinal’s Anne Yelsey at the No. 2 singles spot.
In the championship match against Notre Dame, Flower and Craddock battled for an 8-6 win at doubles to set up the No. 1 doubles line for the clinching point. Flower again gave Tech a 2-0 edge with a quick 6-2, 6-1 win against Notre Dame’s 31st-ranked Colleen Rielley in singles.
Three non-conference road matches are on the slate for the No. 6 Yellow Jackets this weekend, as they travel to 25th-ranked William & Mary, Illinois and No. 8 Northwestern.
