April 13, 2008
ATLANTA – Christy Striplin played nearly flawless in her doubles and singles matches, teaming with Kirsten Flower to stop Oksana Krutiyenko and Julia Huschke, 8-0, before downing Krutiyenko, 6-0, 6-0 in singles to lead No. 2 Georgia Tech (18-4, 10-1 ACC) to a 7-0 sweep of Maryland (3-17, 0-11 ACC) Sunday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
Prior to the match, the Yellow Jackets honored seniors Whitney McCray and Kristi Miller for their contributions to the success of Georgia Tech women’s tennis over the last four years. Since their arrival, Tech has won an NCAA title, two ITA National Indoor Championships, three Atlantic Coast Conference titles and a total of 90 dual matches.
“Today was a special day for a couple reasons,” said Georgia Tech head coach Bryan Shelton. “I’m glad that we were able to celebrate Whitney and Kristi and what they have meant for our program and to me. It was nice that we could come out and play good tennis, and it’s a tribute to what these girls mean to our team.
McCray and Miller both played well on their special day. McCray and Noelle Hickey followed Striplin and Flower with a matching 8-0 doubles score at the No. 2 slot to clinch the doubles point before Miller and Sasha Krupina finished off the doubles sweep with an 8-1 win atop the lineup.
After Striplin’s singles win gave Tech a 2-0 edge, McCray pushed Tech’s lead to three by downing Maggie MacKeever, 6-2, 6-2, at the No. 3 singles spot. A 6-4, 6-0 victory by Hickey clinched match point for the Yellow Jackets before fourth-ranked Amanda McDowell notched a 7-5, 6-1 win at the second singles line to give Tech a 5-0 lead.
Miller knocked off Michal Amir, 7-5, 6-2, at the top of the singles lineup and Maya Johansson stopped Julia Huschke, 6-4, 6-3, to finish off the sweep of the Terrapins.
“This win clinches our fourth regular season conference title, so we can cross another goal off our list,” said Shelton. “It is a tribute to how tough these girls are and how hard they have worked this season.”
The Jackets will travel to Atlamonte Springs, Fla., next week to compete in the ACC Championships, which begin Thursday and conclude Sunday. Live stats for all Tech tennis matches will be available at ramblinwreck.com.
Click HERE to see match scores.
