Oct. 19, 2012
THE FLATS – Senior Elizabeth Kilborn and freshman Kendal Woodard each went 3-0 on day one of the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional hosted by USF in Tampa, Fla., Friday.
The Yellow Jackets won five matches on day one in what head coach Rodney Harmon believes is one of the toughest regionals in the country.
“Overall, I think we played well against some very good competition,” Harmon said. “The teams at this tournament are all extremely talented. This is another good opportunity for us to go out and get quality matches against quality opponents. We have to use this tournament as another chance to get better.”
Kilborn and Woodard started the day off with an 8-3 win over Georgia State’s doubles pair of Maryna Kozachenko and Natallia Vavulina. The win improves Kilborn and Woodard to 3-1 on the season and the Tech duo will face North Florida’s Lorena Aviles and Melanie Aguirre on Saturday.
Kilborn improved to 5-2 in singles play for the fall season with a pair of wins in the main draw. In her opening match, the Marietta, Ga., native topped Stetson’s Andrea Crespo 6-4, 6-3 and then cruised past Georgia Southern’s Paola Garrido, 6-1, 6-2.
Kilborn will face USF’s Ecaterina Vasenina, ranked No. 29, on Saturday. Kilborn defeated Vasenina 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 at the season-opening Southern Shootout hosted by Georgia State at Piedmont Park in Atlanta.
“Elizabeth has been playing well this fall,” Harmon said. “She is the senior and will play No. 1 for us this year. She has to go out and face other teams’ best players every time. Liz does a great job of coming to compete every single day.”
Woodard, a freshman from Stockbridge, Ga., improved to 6-2 for the fall with two singles wins Friday. In her opener, Woodard downed UCF’s Genevieve Lorbergs, 6-3, 6-3, and topped North Florida’s Marina Cunningham, 6-4, 6-5.
In the third round, Woodard will face top-seed and 37th-ranked Maho Kowase from Georgia.
“Kendal has a tremendous challenge tomorrow against Maho Kowase,” Harmon said. “She will have to be ready to go from the very beginning. Maho is the top-seed for a reason and it is another opportunity for Kendal to play a really good opponent.”
Fans are encouraged to follow Georgia Tech women’s tennis on Twitter, @GT_WTEN, and like the Yellow Jackets on Facebook, GTWomensTennis, for an inside look at the program.
Doubles:
No. 4 seed Danielle Collins / Olivia Janowicz (UF) def. Megan Kurey / Jasmine Minor (GT), 8-3
Elizabeth Kilborn / Kendal Woodard (GT) def. Maryna Kozachenko / Natallia Vavulina (GAST), 8-3
Singles:
Kendal Woodard (GT) def. Genevieve Lorbergs (UCF), 6-3, 6-3
Kendal Woodard (GT) def. Marina Cunningham (UNF), 6-4, 6-5
Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) def. Andrea Crespo (SU), 6-4, 6-3
Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) def. Paola Garrido (GASO), 6-1, 6-2
#32 Sofie Oyen (UF) def. Megan Kurey (GT), 6-3, 6-2
#53 Lauren Herring (UGA) def. Natasha Prokhnevska (GT), 6-3, 6-3
Makenzie Craft (UGA) def. Jasmine Minor (GT), 6-2, 6-3
–RamblinWreck.com–
