Jan. 23, 2011
ATLANTA – A doubles victory proved to be the game changer as the No. 16 Georgia Tech women’s tennis team earned a 5-2 victory over No. 9 Northwestern in its dual meet opener at the Bill Moore Tennis Center Sunday.
The Jackets won four of the six singles matches on the day, including a couple of nail biters at the No. 2 and No. 6 singles to earn the 5-2 upset. The victory was the third for the Jackets against their Big Ten foe.
“This was a great way to start off our spring campaign,” head coach Bryan Shelton said. “There were a couple of big, keys points to the day, but being able to come out and establish a presence in the doubles got us believing that we could come through and be successful today. All three doubles matches played well and we put ourselves in position to win each of them.”
In a hard fought doubles contest, Tech came away the victor winning two of the three matches to earn the first point of the day. Sasha Krupina and Caroline Lilley earned the Jackets’ first win over their opponents, Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton in 8-4 fashion.
With the other two doubles matches coming down to the wire, Viet Ha Ngo and Jillian O’Neill pulled out the victory in a close 8-5 game to capture the doubles point and give Tech a one point lead entering singles play. At No. 3 doubles, Lynn Blau and Elizabeth Kilborn attempted a comeback but just couldn’t notch the win falling 8-6.
O’Neill’s success continued into her singles play as she dominated her opponent, Turvy, to capture Tech’s second point on the day, 6-2, 6-1. Her doubles partner, Ngo, didn’t have quite the same success in her singles match falling to Mosolova 6-3, 6-0. Lilley, at No. 2 doubles, won a marathon match coming back from a 6-1 loss in the first set to defeat Wowchuk 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 putting the Jackets up 3-1 after the first round of singles play.
“It was nice to see Caroline steady her nerves and regain her composure after losing early and be able to bounce back,” continued Shelton, “she did a good job of looking inward in the second and third set to figure things out.”
It was Krupina from the No. 5 singles, who captured the victory for the Jackets with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Abu Mushrefova for Tech’s fourth point of the day. Northwestern earned their second point as Belinda Niu defeated Lynn Blau in a tough one, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). In the battle of the No. 6 singles, Kilborn came from behind in a nail biter to defeat Hamiliton 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4), 10-3.
“Overall, I am happy for the whole team,” Shelton said. “We did some things better than we did last weekend and we executed better. This is a good sign that we improved just over this past week.”
The Jackets look to bring this momentum into their next match against Iowa as a part of ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Saturday, January 29 at 2 p.m. at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
#16 Georgia Tech 5, #9 Northwestern 2
Singles competition:
1. Maria Mosolova (NU) def. Viet Ha Ngo (GT) 6-3, 6-0
2. Caroline Lilley (GT) def. Brittany Wowchuk (NU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
3. Jillian O’Neill (GT) def. Kate Turvy (NU) 6-2, 6-1
4. Belinda Niu (NU) def. Lynn Blau (GT) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
5. Sasha Krupina (GT) def. Linda Abu Mushrefova (NU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) def. Nida Hamilton (NU) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4), 10-3
Doubles competition:
1. Sasha Krupina/Caroline Lilley (GT) def. Linda Abu Mushrefova/Nida Hamilton (NU) 8-4
2. Viet Ha Ngo/Jillian O’Neill (GT) def. Belinda Niu/Maria Mosolova (NU) 8-5
3. Brittany Wowchuk/Kate Turvy (NU) def. Lynn Blau/Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) 8-6
Kilborn/Hamilton – Match tiebreaker 10-3 instead of third set T-5:54 A-104
— RamblinWreck.com —
