May 16, 2008
TULSA, Okla. – Kirsten Flower completed a singles comeback for the Yellow Jackets as No. 3 Georgia Tech (22-5) recovered after dropping the doubles point to pull out a 4-2 win over No. 19 Texas (20-7) Thursday in the Round of 16 of the 2008 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships.
“It was such a great match,” said head coach Bryan Shelton. “Texas came out and played really well. They fought hard and really pushed us to the limit. Our girls really stepped up at the right time, and it was nice to see.”
Christy Striplin, Kristi Miller, Amanda McDowell and Flower all notched straight-set singles wins to help the Yellow Jackets advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second-consecutive season. Tech will face the University of Florida Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
With the Jackets trailing 0-2 after Texas won two of three doubles matches in addition to recording a straight-set win at No. 6 singles, Striplin gave Tech its first point of the match by dropping Caroline Larsson, 6-3, 6-2, at the No. 4 singles line.
Kristi Miller tied the match at 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Vanja Corovic atop the singles lineup before Amanda McDowell gave Tech its first lead of the match with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Courtney Zauft.
“Christy, Amanda and Kristi all stepped up really well tonight, and Kirsten was just tough as nails down the stretch,” Shelton added.
Flower stopped Texas’ Maggie Mello with a 6-4, 6-4 win at the No. 5 spot to clinch match point for the Yellow Jackets.
Tech managed just one doubles win on the day as Striplin and Flower stopped the Longhorn’s tandem of Mello and Zauft, 8-6, at No. 3 doubles, but the Jackets’ No. 2 line of Whitney McCray and Noelle Hickey couldn’t pull off the comeback win, falling to Stephanie Dawson and Caroline Larsson, 8-6.
The Jackets now turn their attention to the University of Florida, a team that the Yellow Jackets have never faced before in the dual-match format.
“We are going to have another tough match, but it is nice that we have the day in between since we are finishing up so late,” Shelton said. “We will work hard to sharpen up a few things and are excited to get back out there for the quarterfinals.”
Tennis Match ResultsTexas vs Georgia TechMay 16, 2008 at Tulsa, Okla.
#3 Georgia Tech 4, #19 Texas 2
Singles competition 1. #10 Kristi Miller (GT) def. #63 Vanja Corovic (TEX) 6-3, 6-4 2. #7 Amanda McDowell (GT) def. Courtney Zauft (TEX) 6-2, 6-4 3. Whitney McCray (GT) vs. Stephanie Davison (TEX) 6-4, 2-6, 1-3, unfinished 4. #77 Christy Striplin (GT) def. Caroline Larsson (TEX) 6-3, 6-2 5. #46 Kirsten Flower (GT) def. Maggie Mello (TEX) 6-4, 6-4 6. Sarah Lancaster (TEX) def. Noelle Hickey (GT) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles competition 1. #23 Corovic/Marija Milic (TEX) def. Sasha Krupina/Miller (GT) 8-2 2. Davison/Larsson (TEX) def. Hickey/McCray (GT) 8-6 3. Flower/Striplin (GT) def. Mello/Zauft (TEX) 8-6
Match Notes: Texas 20-7; National ranking #19 Georgia Tech 22-5; National ranking #3 Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,4,1,2,5)
