STILLWATER, Okla. – Georgia Tech’s Carol Lee returned to action in the 2024 NCAA Singles Championship on Monday afternoon, challenging Texas’ No. 20 Malaika Rapolu in the first round. Lee pushed Rapolu in the second set, fighting off match points, but could not overcome the Longhorn, falling in a pair of sets. The individual championships are being played at the Greenwood Tennis Center on the campus of Oklahoma State.
Lee, who is ranked No. 38 in the country, and Rapolu were on serve at 1-all in the opening set before the Longhorn claimed the next four games to grab a 5-1 edge. Lee rallied back to 5-4, but Rapolu served out the set at 6-4 to take the set lead.
Rapolu took the first two games of the second set before Lee got on the scoreboard. The Longhorn extended her lead to 4-1 before Lee earned a break back at 4-2. After Rapolu pushed her lead out to 5-2, Lee broke back to 5-3 and held serve at 5-4. Lee fought off two match points in the next service game from Rapolu to knot the set at 5-all. The opponents exchanged the next two games to force a tiebreak at 6-all.
In the tiebreak, Lee fell into a 2-4 deficit before battling back to 4-4. Lee took her first lead in the breaker at 5-4, but Rapolu won the next three points to seal the win, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
In her four years as a Yellow Jacket, Lee made three individual NCAA Singles Championship appearances. She made her deepest run in the tournament last season, reaching the quarterfinals to earn ITA All-American status.
Lee and teammate Kate Sharabura return to action tomorrow in the first round of doubles play. The Jackets take on Oklahoma State’s third-ranked doubles team of Ange Oby Kajuru and Anastasiya Komar.
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