Nov. 9, 2013
Live Scoring | Follow the trip to NYC on the WTEN Blog | USTA/ITA National Indoor Info Page
FLUSHING, N.Y. #26 Kendal Woodard and Megan Kurey are headed to the doubles finals of the 2013 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships after recording a 6-0, 4-6, 6-0 victory in the semifinals against #54 Guliana Olmos and Zoe Scandalis of USC.
“Kendal and Megan are playing with so much resiliency and Coach Harmon and I are extremely proud of the way they are competing and representing the Georgia Tech program,” assistant coach Alison Silverio said. “We stand for excellence in everything we do and tomorrow is another opportunity to get better as a team. The finals of the ITA/USTA National Indoor Tournament is a huge stage to play on and I am confident Kendal and Megan are ready to give a big time performance.”
The tandem got off to a hot start, shutting out Olmos and Scandalis, 6-0. The Trojans found some momentum in the second set, never letting Woodard and Kurey take back the lead, and won set two, 6-4. Kurey and Woodard came out firing in the last set, recording another 6-0 win to secure their spot in the finals.
“We came out playing well but the second set was a battle,” Kurey said. “The third set we executed. We are really excited for tomorrow and ready to get back out there and fight for the title.”
“It was a very hard fought match today,” Silverio said. “We had to stay mentally tough. USC changed their game style after the first set, and we made the necessary adjustment s in the third set. Our biggest adjustment was execution at the net and our mental focus.”
The sophomore duo will face #58 Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine of the University of Louisville during the finals tomorrow morning at 10a.m. at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Fellerhoff and Shine defeated #50 Lauren Herring and Maho Kowase of Georgia, 7-6, 6-4, to advance
. “We are really excited about tomorrow,” Woodard said. “We are achieving goals that we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year and we are going to go after it tomorrow.”
Woodard and Kurey defeated Georgia’s Herring and Kowase to win the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Doubles title and gain automatic entry into the National Indoor Championships.
Kurey and Woodard now own a 13-4 record this fall and are 6-3 against nationally ranked opponents.
The USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships serves as the culmination of the fall season, showcasing elite players from every level of college tennis. Hosted by Columbia University, this prestigious event features a 32-player singles draw and a 20-team doubles draw for men and women.
Gaining automatic entry into the tournament are champions from the USTA/ITA Division I Regional Championships held across the country in October, winners of the USTA/ITA National Small College Super Bowl, and the consolation champions, doubles finalists, men’s singles quarterfinalists and women’s singles semifinalists from the ITA Men’s and Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships.
Follow the Georgia Tech women’s tennis blog as it follows Megan and Kendal’s trip here. Make sure to follow Coach Ali Silverio on Twitter, @GT_CoachAli, for exclusive information on the trip and throughout the season.
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.
–RamblinWreck.com
