Feb. 4, 2011
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech women’s tennis team (3-1) traveled to Athens for its first road dual match of the season on Friday and dropped its first match of the season to the No. 16 ranked Georgia Bulldogs (3-1), 5-2.
Junior Viet Ha Ngo and Senior Sasha Krupina claimed the Jackets’ two points with wins in their singles matches.
“Georgia played very well tonight and they were just the better team tonight,” head coach Bryan Shelton said. “We saw some things in ourselves that we need to do better and we have to get back to work in order to learn from this. We’re disappointed, but the good news is that we can still get better. We have to work on hitting our targets on our serves, work on getting stronger and more fit, and believe in ourselves when we have opportunities to gain an advantage.”
The match got off to a tough start for the Jackets with Tech losing the doubles point for the first time this season. Ngo and Jillian O’Neill gave Tech an early advantage with an 8-5 win over Lilly Kimbell and Maho Kowase at No. 2 doubles, but the Bulldogs evened the score with an 8-6 win from Chelsey Gullickson and Kate Fuller over the Jackets’ Krupina and Caroline Lilley at No. 1 doubles.
With the doubles point down to the third match, Lynn Blau and Elizabeth Kilborn came up just short, falling 9-8 (7-3) to Cameron Ellis and Alex Anghelescu, giving the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead.
“I didn’t think we took advantage of some of the opportunities we had in doubles,” Shelton said. “We did a good job of getting up a break and we stumbled a bit. Against a good team like Georgia, we have got to capitalize on opportunities when we get them.”
Ngo battled back from dropping the first set, 4-6, to defeat Gullickson, the reigning NCAA singles champion, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 singles. Krupina earned the Jackets other singles win with a long, hard fought 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8) win over the 58th-ranked Ellis in the No. 2 spot in the lineup.
“It was really good to see Viet Ha get a win over last year’s NCAA champion,” Shelton said. “She puts in so much work and it’s really great to see it pay off for her. I was also happy to see Sasha earn the win in the final match. It’s always good to leave the court after the final match with a win. Sasha had to battle back, and she kept fighting through the ups and downs to get the win.”
The Jackets will return home to face the Auburn Tigers on Sunday, Feb. 13, at 2 p.m. at the Bill Moore Tennis Center. The Jackets will be wearing pink and accepting donations as they host Ace For the Cure to raise awareness for breast cancer. The match is open to the public and admission is free. For more information, visit RamblinWreck.com or follow us on Twitter, @GT_WTEN, for instant updates.
#16 Georgia 5, #13 Georgia Tech 2
Singles competition:
No. 1 Christina Ngo (GT) def. Chelsey Gullickson (UGA) 4-6,6-2,6-4
No. 2 #97 Maho Kowase (UGA) def. Caroline Lilley (GT) 6-4,6-2
No. 3 #67 Nadja Gilchrist (UGA) def . #39 Jillian O’Neill (GT) 3-6,6-1,7-6(2)
No. 4 Alexandra Anghelescu (UGA) def. Lynn Blau (GT) 6-1,6-3
No. 5 Sasha Krupina (GT) def. #58 Cameron Ellis 2-6,6-4,1-0(10-8)
No. 6 #95 Lilly Kimbell (UGA) def. Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) 6-3,6-1
Doubles competition:
No. 1 Fuller/Gullickson (UGA) def. #66 Krupina/Lilley (GT) 8-6
No. 2 Ngo/O’Neill (GT) def. Lilly Kimbell/Maho Kowase (UGA) 8-5
No. 3 #40 Anghelescu/Ellis (UGA) def. #36 Blau/Kilborn (GT) 9-8(7-3)
— RamblinWreck.com —
