Oct. 8, 2009
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Senior Amanda McDowell and sophomore Irina Falconi of the Georgia Tech women’s tennis team defeated the tournament’s top seed Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships at the Riviera Tennis Club main doubles draw in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
McDowell and Falconi, the 2008 All-American Championship doubles champions, defeated Cal’s Mari Andersson and Jana Juricova, 8-6. Andersson and Juricova entered the tournament ranked No. 2 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason doubles poll. This marks the second straight season the Yellow Jacket duo defeated the tournament’s No. 1 seed.
“We knew we had a tough first round match but it didn’t scare us,” McDowell said. “We know what we are capable of. I struggled at the beginning but Irina picked me up and it helped us turn it around. We really came through in the pressure points of the match.”
“We went out there with the intention to fight for every point and give it our best,” Falconi added. “We knew exactly what game plan we were going to use and whenever either of us got down, we just used our positive energy to get each other through the match.”
McDowell and Falconi will return to the courts Friday for a second round meeting against Florida’s Lauren Embree and Allie Will beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET.
In singles, Falconi, who is seeded eighth, breezed through her first round match with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Anastasia Petukova of Fresno State. Falconi will face either Kristy Frilling of Notre Dame or Duke’s Reka Zsilinszka in the second round of the singles draw Friday at 2 p.m. ET.
“[Petukova] is a very good player but I came out of the gate quickly and was able to hold on through out the match,” Falconi said. “I was able to tough out the close games and was very discipline. It was a nice way start to the tournament.”
For more information on the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, please click here.
– RamblinWreck.com –
