COLUMBIA, S.C. – Georgia Tech women’s tennis upended No. 13 South Carolina, 4-1, Sunday afternoon behind the doubles point and three singles victories to conclude ITA Kick-Off Weekend action. With the win, the Yellow Jackets earned a berth into the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in February and moved to 8-0 on the season.
DOUBLES ACTION: The Yellow Jackets won a critical doubles point, taking victories from courts one and three. South Carolina took the first doubles match from court two to give the Gamecocks the edge, but Tech raced out with early leads on courts one and three as Gia Cohen and Nami Otuska gained a 4-2 advantage over Ana Cruz and Gabriela Martinez on court three. The Yellow Jackets pocketed a 6-2 decision to leave the doubles point to be decided on court one where No. 51 Kenya Jones and Victoria Flores opened with a 5-1 lead over Mia Horvit and Emma Shelton. The Gamecocks put together a rally taking the next two games, but the Jackets finished with a 6-3 victory to clinch the early lead for Tech.
SINGLES ACTION: South Carolina got on the scoreboard with a straight-set win on court four before the Jackets won the next three matches to clinch the win. Flores returned the lead to Tech from court two where she battled No. 28 Megan Davies, downing the Gamecock in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-2, handing Tech a 2-1 edge. Rosie Garcia Gross cushioned Tech’s lead from court five where the Jacket cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 decision over Kennedy Wicker.
No. 73 Cohen clinched the match for Tech from court three where she battled Silvia Chinellato in three sets. After taking the opener, 6-3, Chinellato forced a deciding third set with a 6-3 second set win. Cohen came out strong in the third set, taking a 4-0 lead, and clinched the match with a 6-2 third set victory for the 4-1 Tech win.
“Today was a very good team win. I thought the team played extremely well. Victoria Flores had a great day with a good win in doubles and a big win in singles, beating a nationally-ranked player in straight-sets. Rosie [Garcia Gross] bounced back from doubles and played very well in singles, as did Gia [Cohen] who closed out the match for us. Today was a big win that gave us a great opportunity to go to ITA National Team Indoors, which is always a difficult tournament. But making National Indoors was one of our team goals this year, so I’m very pleased for our team. We’re looking forward to getting back to Atlanta and preparing for two big matches this week against Georgia and Texas.” – Head coach Rodney Harmon
UP NEXT: Georgia Tech returns to the courts on Thursday, Jan. 30, hosting in-state rival No. 3 Georgia at Ken Byers Tennis Complex. First serve is slated for 4 p.m.
RESULTS
Doubles
1-No. 51 Kenya Jones/Victoria Flores (GT) def. Mia Horvit/Emma Shelton (SC) 6-3
2-Silvia Chinellato/Megan Davies (SC) def. Monika Dedaj/Rosie Garcia Gross (GT) 6-0
3-Nami Otsuka/Gia Cohen (GT) def. Ana Cruz/Gabriela Martinez (SC) 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1-No. 53 Kenya Jones (GT) vs. No. 27 Mia Horvit (SC) 6-7, 6-4, DNF
2-Victoria Flores (GT) def. No. 28 Megan Davies (SC) 6-3, 6-2
3-No. 73 Gia Cohen (GT) def. Silvia Chinellato (SC) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
4-Emma Shelton (SC) def. Nami Otsuka (GT) 6-1, 6-2
5-Rosie Garcia Gross (GT) def. Kennedy Wicker (SC) 6-2, 6-3
6-Elise Mills (SC) vs. Nadia Gizdova (GT) 5-7, 6-5, DNF
Order of finish: 4, 2, 5, 3
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