RALEIGH, N.C. – No. 19 Georgia Tech women’s tennis battled to the finish at No. 4 NC State, but dropped a tough 4-3 decision on Friday afternoon. Facing over an hour rain delay, the Yellow Jackets took a 2-1 lead in singles play, but couldn’t hold on, falling to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
DOUBLES
NC State took the doubles point with a pair of 6-2 decisions on courts one and three. No. 23 Diana Shnaider and Alana Smith topped Kylie Bilchev and Alejandra Cruz on court one before the point was clinched on court three. Sophie Abrams and Abigail Rencheli grabbed an early lead over Carol Lee and Rosie Garcia Gross and sealed the match, 6-2, giving NC State a 1-0 match lead.
SINGLES
Lee quickly evened the match at 1-all, collecting a straight-set win on court one over Shnaider. Lee jumped out with a 4-1 lead in the first set, pocketing the opener, 6-1, and went up 4-2 in the second. The Jacket sealed the win, 6-3, to put Georgia Tech on the scoreboard and hand Shnaider her first loss of the spring season.
Mahak Jain gave Tech its first lead of the match, downing Abrams on court four in two sets. Leading 3-2 in the first set, Jain extended her lead to 5-2 and took the set, 6-3. Abrams looked to gain momentum in the second set, opening with a 3-0 advantage, but Jain rallied back, knotting the set at 3-all. Jain and Abrams exchanged the next two games for a 4-4 standstill before the Jacket won the next two games to take the match, 6-3, 6-4, and give Tech a 2-1 match lead.
NC State took the next three matches to regain the lead and clinch the match at 4-2. The Wolfpack knotted the match at 2-apiece when Gina Dittman pulled out a 7-5, 6-3 decision over Ruth Marsh on court six before Rencheli topped Garcia Gross on court five, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.
Rajecki clinched the match for NC State on court three. Facing Cruz, the opponents were on serve at 5-all in the first set. Cruz took a 6-5 lead, but Rajecki forced a tiebreak at 6-6. Cruz dominated the tiebreak, winning, 7-3, to take the set. But Rajecki battled back to win the next two sets to clinch the match, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3.
Bilchev wrapped up singles play, winning a three-set decision over Smith on court two. Tied at 2-2 to open, Bilchev went up a break at 4-2 and took the first set, 6-3. She battled to the wire in the second set as the opponents stood on serve at 5-all. Smith took the set in a tiebreak (7-4), to force a deciding third set. But Bilchev dominated the final set, 6-1, for her third ranked win in dual play.
The Yellow Jackets close out this five-match road swing visiting No. 29 Wake Forest on Sunday, March 5. First serve is slated for noon.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
1. No. 23 Diana Shnaider/Alana Smith (NCSU) def. Kylie Bilchev/Alejandra Cruz (GT) 6-2
2. Kate Sharabura/Monika Dedaj (GT) vs. No. 5 Nell Miller/Amelia Rajecki (NCSU) 4-4, DNF
3. Sophie Abrams/Abigail Rencheli (NCSU) def. Carol Lee/Rosie Garcia Gross (GT) 6-2
Order of finish: 1,3*
*Clinched the doubles point
SINGLES
1.No. 14 Carol Lee (GT) def. No. 52 Diana Shnaider (NCSU) 6-1, 6-3
2. No. 40 Kylie Bilchev (GT) def. No. 15 Alana Smith (NCSU) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1
3. No. 17 Amelia Rajecki (NCSU) def. Alejandra Cruz (GT) 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-3
4. No. 108 Mahak Jain (GT) def. No. 60 Sophie Abrams (NCSU) 6-3, 6-4
5. No. 51 Abigail Rencheli (NCSU) def. Rosie Garcia Gross (GT) 7-6 (9-7), 6-4
6. Gina Dittmann (NCSU) def. Ruth Marsh (GT) 7-5, 6-3
Order of finish: 1,4,6,5,3^,2
^Clinched the overall match
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