ATHENS, Ga. – Behind the doubles point and three straight-set singles victories, Georgia Tech women’s tennis defeated Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Championship on Friday morning at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The win pushed Tech to 14-11 overall on the season and secured a spot in second round action.
DOUBLES
In a highly competitive doubles battle, Georgia Tech grabbed the early lead, winning matches on courts one and two. Iowa took the early advantage in doubles with a 6-1 decision on court three, but Kylie Bilchev and Scarlett Nicholson evened the field with a victory at the top position. Facing Tereza Dejnozkova and Nikita Vishwase, the Jackets won the first three games before the Hawkeyes rallied back to 3-2. Owning a 4-3 lead, Tech won the next three games to take the match, 6-3.
It all came down to an extended match on court two where Alejandra Cruz and Kate Sharabura battled Daianne Hayashida and Marisa Schmidt. The Hawkeyes took an early 3-1 lead before the Jackets began to rally back, winning four of the next five games to grab a 5-4 lead. But Iowa held serve in the next game, setting up a 5-all tally. The teams traded the next two games, forcing a tiebreak to decide the doubles point. The Jackets fell behind early in the breaker, 2-4, but won the next five points to erase their deficit and clinch the match, 7-6 (4).
SINGLES
Georgia Tech needed less than two hours and three straight-set singles wins to clinch a spot in the NCAA Championship second round. Iowa first evened the score, capturing court six, but the Hawkeyes were kept off the scoreboard remainder of the match.
Nicholson returned the permanent lead to the Yellow Jackets from court one, where the sophomore upended Hayashida in a pair of sets. After trading the first two games of the opening set, Nicholson rattled off the next five to take the set, 6-1. The Jacket raced out with a 4-0 lead in the second and took the match, 6-1, 6-1, handing Georgia Tech a 2-1 match lead.
Competing on court two, Cruz put the Jackets on the brink of victory, downing Dejnozkova, 6-2, 6-3. Cruz took a commanding 3-1 lead in the first and pushed her advantage out for a 6-2 opening set. The Jacket carried momentum into the second set, pocketing the victory, 6-2, 6-3, giving the Yellow Jackets a 3-1 match advantage.
Freshman Taly Licht provided the clinching match on court five. Challenging Pia Kranholdt, Licht opened with a 3-1 lead in the first set before the opponents moved back on serve, trading games to a 6-all standstill. Kranholdt took a 4-2 lead in the first set tiebreaker, but Licht battled back to 4-all, as they remained even at 6-apiece. After erasing one set point to move to 6-6, Licht won the next two points to take the set, 7-6 (7). In the second set, Licht went up a break, 4-2, and extended her lead to 5-3 with a chance to serve out the match. But Kranholdt fought off a match point as the opponents setup another tiebreak for the set at 6-6. Licht broke open a 3-3 standstill in the tiebreaker, winning the next three points to seal the match, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3), clinching the overall match at 4-1 for the Yellow Jackets.
With the win, Georgia Tech secured a spot in the second round and will face top-seeded, and host, Georgia on Saturday, May 3. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. No. 55 Scarlett Nicholson/Kylie Bilchev (GT) def. No. 65 Tereza Dejnozkova/Nikita Vishwase (Iowa) 6-3
2. Alejandra Cruz/Kate Sharabura (GT) def. Daianne Hayashida/Marisa Schmidt (Iowa) 7-6 (7-4)*
3. Barbora Pokorna/Pia Kranholdt (Iowa) def. Taly Licht/Given Roach (GT) 6-1
Order of finish: 3,1,2*
Singles
1. No. 28 Scarlett Nicholson (GT) def. No. 107 Daianne Hayashida (Iowa) 6-1, 6-1
2. No. 90 Alejandra Cruz (GT) def. No. 124 Tereza Dejnozkova (Iowa) 6-2, 6-3
3. Kate Sharabura (GT) vs. Marisa Schmidt (Iowa) 6-4, 6-6 (8-7), DNF
4. Given Roach (GT) vs. Barbora Pokorna (Iowa) 5-7, 5-6, DNF
5. Taly Licht (GT) vs. Pia Kranholdt (Iowa) 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-3)*
6. Nikita Vishwase (Iowa) def. Kylie Bilchev (GT) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: 6,1,2,5*
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on X (@GT_WTEN), Instagram (GT_WTEN), Facebook (Georgia Tech Women’s Tennis) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com
