CARY, N.C. – No. 38 Georgia Tech women’s tennis took the doubles point and forced four singles matches into three sets against No. 30 Syracuse in the second round of the ACC Tournament Thursday, but it wasn’t enough, falling 4-3.
DOUBLES ACTION: The Jackets took two of three doubles matches to open play with a 1-0 lead. On court two, the Yellow Jacket duo of Nami Otsuka and Gia Cohen raced out with a 3-0 lead and built their advantage out to 5-1. The pair sealed the match win, 6-2, to give Tech the edge. The point was clinched from the three seed where Nadia Gizdova and Kenya Jones topped Guzal Yusupova and Sofya Treschva, 6-2. The Jackets knotted the match at 2-apiece and took the edge in the next game before opening a 5-2 lead. Tech sealed the early point closing out the match, 6-2.
SINGLES ACTION: Syracuse quickly tied the match at 1-1, winning on court two, 7-5, 6-2, but the Jackets regained the lead from court five where Victoria Flores battled back from dropping the first set to Maria Tritou. Flores forced a deciding third set after winning set two, 6-3. The Jacket cruised in the final set, not dropping a game en route to a 6-0 victory to put the Jackets in front, 2-1.
Despite a battle from Valeriya Deminova on court three, the Orange’s Miranda Ramirez captured a straight-set decision, 7-6, 6-3, to pull Syracuse to 2-2. The Orange took their first lead of the match with a decision on court one. Jones rebounded from dropping the first set to Gabriela Knutson, 7-6, taking the second set, 6-2. Jones took a 2-1 lead in the third set, but couldn’t sustain the lead, dropping the final set, 6-3, to Knutson for a 3-2 Syracuse lead.
Cohen closed out her match on court four to put the foes at 3-all. The freshman pocketed a 6-4 first set against Yusupova and held a 5-3 lead in the second set. Yusupova battled back, winning the second set, 7-5, to take her match into the third set. The foes battled back-and-forth in the final set to 6-6. Yusupova took a 6-4 lead in the tiebreak, but Cohen erased her deficit and rattled off the next four points to seal her match win with an 8-6 tiebreak victory, leaving the decision on court six where Gizdova was in a third set with Dina Hegab. Gizdova and Hegab traded points to a 4-3 Orange lead and Hegab won the final two points for a 6-3 triumph, sealing the win for Syracuse.
UP NEXT: The 2019 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship selection show will air on NCAA.com on Monday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m. The individual selection show will be held on Tuesday, April 30 at 6 p.m.
RESULTS
Doubles
1-No. 56 Gabriela Knutson/Miranda Ramirez (SYR) def. Victoria Flores/Valeriya Deminova (GT) 6-3
2-Nami Otsuka/Gia Cohen (GT) def. Sofya Golubovskaya/Dina Hegab (SYR) 6-2
3-Nadia Gizdova/Kenya Jones (GT) def. Guzal Yusuvoa/Sofya Treshcheva (SYR) 6-2
Order of finish: 2,3,1
Singles
1-No. 13 Gabriela Knutson (SYR) def. No. 8 Kenya Jones (GT) 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-3
2-Sofya Golubovskaya (SYR) def. Nami Otsuka (GT) 7-5, 6-2
3-No. 97 Miranda Ramirez (SYR) def. Valeriya Deminova (GT) 7-6, 6-3
4-Gia Cohen (GT) def. Guzal Yusupova (SYR) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6)
5-Victoria Flores (GT) def. Maria Tritou (SYR) 0-6, 6-3, 6-0
6-Dina Hegab (SYR) def. Nadia Gizdova (GT) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
Order of finish: 2,5,3,1,4,6
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