April 26, 2015
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The #27 Georgia Tech women’s tennis team was defeated in the ACC Tournament Championship match, 4-0, by the #11 Virginia Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
“It was a tough day today,” head coach Rodney Harmon said. “I thought we competed hard. I thought Virginia played incredibly well. They played well yesterday, beating UNC and they played well again today. We had some chances in singles. We were in three sets at one, five and six but they closed the door on the other matches. Kudos to Virginia because they played very well. I think we had a great tournament. I am very proud of my team for continuing to fight and we need to rest and get ready for the NCAAs.”
The #6 seed Yellow Jackets (16-9, 9-5 ACC) defeated #14 seed NC State, 4-0, upset #3 seed Duke, 4-3, and edged #10 seed Florida State, 4-3, to advance to face #4 seed Virginia (21-5, 11-3 ACC) in the ACC title match. It was the Yellow Jackets’ fifth appearance in the tournament finals and first under head coach Rodney Harmon.
The Yellow Jackets dropped the doubles point for only the sixth time this season, falling behind on all three courts to the Cavaliers.
On court one, Georgia Tech’s #16th ranked pair of junior Kendal Woodard and freshman Paige Hourigan played Julia Elbaba and Skylar Morton to a 3-3 tie before the Cavaliers jumped out ahead, 5-3. The Jackets duo would close the gap to 5-4 but Elbaba and Morton took the next three games to hand Woodard and Hourigan their second loss of the spring season, 8-4.
Junior Megan Kurey and sophomore Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer found themselves in a 6-2 hole to Stephanie Nauta and Mercer at the number two spot, but fought back to make it 7-5. Nauta and Mercer closed out the final game to win 8-5 and put Virginia ahead in the championship match, 1-0.
In an unfortunate turn of events, #53 Hourigan was forced to retire after suffering a leg injury on court two against #19 Collins. Collins and Hourigan had battled to a 4-4 tie before Collins won the set 6-4 and the match was retired.
Woodard took the first three games against #36 Nauta on court three to go up 3-0, but Nauta came charging back, taking set one, 6-4. Nauta won set two 6-2 to give the Cavaliers its third point of the afternoon.
While the matches on courts one, five and six all went into third sets, McAdoo battled Morton on court four. Morton took a quick 4-1 lead and ran with it to win the first set, 6-2. Morton carried the momentum into the second frame, going ahead 5-0, but McAdoo fought back to win the next three games to cut Morton’s advantage to 5-3. Morton won the next game to clinch the 4-0 victory for the Cavaliers.
On court one, #102 Renaud rallied from being down 2-1 to the #5-ranked Elbaba, and won the next five games to record a 6-2 win in the first set. Elbaba rebounded by going out ahead 3-0 in the second set, but Renaud took the next three to knot the score at three-all. Elbaba answered Renaud’s run with three wins of her own and sent the match into a third set. Renaud had jumped out ahead 3-0 in set three before the Cavaliers had clinched the win.
Prokhnevska came out firing, going up 4-0 in the first set against Epstein on court five. Epstein claimed one game in the set to make it 4-1, but the Jacket won the next two games to win the first set 6-1. Epstein came back in set two, winning 6-4 and held a 3-1 lead in the second set before the match was won.
After falling in set one, 6-2, to Mercer, Kurey rallied from being down in set two, 3-2, to tie the score up at 4-4. Kurey claimed the next two games to win the second set and trailed 2-1 in the third frame before the match was called.
The Yellow Jackets will learn their first-round opponent during the NCAA Women’s Tennis Selection Show on NCAA.com on Tuesday (April 28). Georgia Tech is expected to make its 18th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Tennis Match Results
Georgia Tech vs Virginia
Apr 26, 2015 at Chapel Hill, N.C.
(Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center)
#11 Virginia 4, #27 Georgia Tech 0
Singles competition
- #5 Julia Elbaba (VA) vs. #102 Johnnise Renaud (GT) 2-6, 6-3, 0-3, unfinished
- #19 Danielle Collins (VA) def. #53 Paige Hourigan (GT) 6-4, retired
- #36 Stephanie Nauta (VA) def. Kendal Woodard (GT) 6-4, 6-2
- Skylar Morton (VA) def. Rasheeda McAdoo (GT) 6-4, 6-3
- Maci Epstein (VA) vs. Natasha Prokhnevska (GT) 1-6, 6-4, 3-1, unfinished
- Cassie Mercer (VA) vs. Megan Kurey (GT) 6-2, 4-6, 2-1, unfinished
Doubles competition
- Julia Elbaba/Skylar Morton (VA) def. #16 Kendal Woodard/Paige Hourigan (GT) 8-4
- Stephanie Nauta/Cassie Mercer (VA) def. Megan Kurey/Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer (GT) 8-5
- Danielle Collins/Maci Epstein (VA) vs. Rasheeda McAdoo/Johnnise Renaud (GT) 7-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
Georgia Tech 16-9, 9-5 ACC; National ranking #27
Virginia 21-5, 11-3 ACC; National ranking #11
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,3,4)
ACC Championship Match
–TogetherWeSwarm–
