May 15, 2009
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Georgia Tech women’s tennis team’s season came to an end Friday afternoon when they dropped a 5-0 decision to eighth-seeded California (20-4) in the NCAA round of 16 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas.
“I thought that Cal played extremely well,” head coach Bryan Shelton said. “We kind of expected them to play well because we knew how good they were from playing them earlier in the season at national indoors.
“We were fighting. I was proud of our team. I didn’t see anyone quit out there. They were yelling and screaming and urging everyone on out there. When it’s all said and done, they were just better than us. They didn’t flinch. When they got up in games, they went through us.”
The Yellow Jackets (18-8) fell behind right away after losing the doubles point to the Golden Bears. Mari Andersson and Jana Juricova of Cal opened doubles with an 8-2 win over Christy Striplin and Noelle Hickey at the top spot in the lineup. Tech’s Irina Falconi and Sasha Krupina would defeat Marina Cossou and Claire Ilcinkas, 8-4 on court two. The point came down to Lynn Blau and Amanda McDowell, who would fall in a battle to Stephany Chang and Bojana Bobusic 8-6 on court three.
Cal extended its lead to 2-0 when Bobusic earned a 6-0, 6-3 decision over Blau at the fifth spot in the lineup. Ilcinkas pushed the score to 3-0 when she defeated Striplin 6-2, 6-2 in the fourth flight.
The Golden Bears would then clinch its spot in the Elite Eight when Andersson outlasted Hickey, 6-3, 6-4 on court three.
The Yellow Jackets were shut out by an opponent for the first time since May 18, 2006, a 4-0 defeat to Northwestern in the NCAA round of 16.
Four Yellow Jackets will participate in the 2009 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, which begin at May 20 in College Station following the conclusion of the NCAA Team Championships.
NCAA Division I Tennis Championships
Women’s Round of 16
May 15, 2009
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station Texas
CALIFORNIA 5, GEORGIA TECH 0
SINGLES
1. (#11) Jana Juricova, CAL def. (#12) Irina Falconi, GT, 6-0, 6-4
2. (#25) Amanda McDowell, GT vs. (#26) Marina Cossou, CAL, 2-6, 6-3, DNF
3. (#41) Mari Andersson, CAL def. (#61) Noelle Hickey, GT, 6-3, 6-4
4. (#54) Claire Ilcinkas, CAL def. (#45) Christy Striplin, GT, 6-2, 6-2
5. (#32) Bojana Bobusic, CAL def. Lynn Blau, GT, 6-0, 6-3
6. Hillary Davis, GT vs. Stephany Chang, CAL, 7-6 (5), 3-1, DNF
DOUBLES
1. (#7) Andersson/Juricova, CAL def. (#30) Striplin/Hickey, GT, 8-2
2. (#74) Falconi/Sasha Krupina, GT def. (#35)Cossou/Ilinkas, CAL, 8-4
3. Bobusic/Chang, CAL def. Blau/McDowell, GT, 8-6
ORDER OF FINISH: Doubles: 1, 2, 3; Singles: 5, 4, 3*, 1
* – Match-winning point was in progress at No. 1 singles when No. 3 clinched)
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