March 27, 2013
THE FLATS – Freshman Megan Kurey battled to a three-set victory at the No. 4 position to clinch a 4-3 comeback win for No. 33 Georgia Tech over No. 11 Northwestern in the Yellow Jackets’ final non-conference match of the season Wednesday afternoon at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.
Kurey won a tough 6-4 first set but dropped a 6-4 second set to the Wildcats’ Linda Abu-Mushrefova. In the third set, Kurey took over for a 6-1 win and the Yellow Jacket victory. The win improves Tech to 7-6 on the spring while the loss drops Northwestern to 8-7 on the season.
It is the second team victory Kurey has clinched this season. She also clinched the 4-3 win over No. 23 Tennessee in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
“It was a battle today,” head coach Rodney Harmon said. “Northwestern has a great team. Historically they have always had a top-10, top-12 team. They are well-coached. Claire Pollard has done a great job with them for a long time. I know last year, Georgia Tech won a really tight match up there and I knew they were going to come in ready to play. It was a very tough match. We’re fortunate that we had a lot of good play in the middle of our lineup. We played very, very well. We thought we had a shot at the doubles point, but we just didn’t quite get it done. We were able to shake off that disappointment and play well in singles.”
Playing at No. 3 doubles for Georgia Tech, Elizabeth Kilborn and Muriel Wacker gave the Jackets an early edge in doubles play with an 8-4 win over Northwestern’s Kate Turvy and Belinda Niu. The Wildcats Veronica Corning and Alicia Barnett won 8-4 at No. 2 doubles to level doubles play.
The Cats’ ninth-ranked side of Linda Abu-Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton rallied to down Tech’s 67th-ranked pair of Kendal Woodard and Megan Kurey, 8-6, at No. 1 doubles to give NU a 1-0 lead heading to singles play.
Woodard cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Veronia Corning, ranked No. 96, to tie the team score 1-1. Hamilton downed Jasmine Minor, 6-1, 6-4, on court six and Turvy bested Kilborn, 6-2, 6-3 on court one to put the Wildcats up 3-1.
A pair of hard-fought wins by the Yellow Jackets tied the team score at 3-3. Prokhnevska posted a 6-4, 7-6 win over NU’s Barnett on court three and Wacker tallied a 7-6, 6-4 win over the Cats’ Wowchuk on court five before Kurey clinched the Tech win.
It was the second time this season the Yellow Jackets have won four singles matches to win the team match.
“I think the key point for us was that Kendal won really fast and tied it up,” Harmon said. “That made it one-all right away and you could see on the scoreboard that it was 1-1. I think that definitely helped with the momentum. Right after that, the other matches were competitive. Megan’s match was just a war. She did a great job. Our three freshmen really came through for us today.”
Tech resumes ACC play this weekend when the Jackets host Boston College at 11 a.m. Saturday and Maryland at 11 a.m. Sunday.
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.
Northwestern vs Georgia Tech
Mar 27, 2013 at Atlanta, Ga.
(Ken Byers Tennis Complex)
#33 Georgia Tech 4, #11 Northwestern 3
Singles competition
1. #63 Kate Turvy (NU) def. #89 Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) 6-2, 6-3
2. Kendal Woodard (GT) def. #96 Veronica Corning (NU) 6-1, 6-0
3. Natasha Prokhnevska (GT) def. Alicia Barnett (NU) 6-4, 7-6
4. Megan Kurey (GT) def. Linda Abu Mushrefova (NU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
5. Muriel Wacker (GT) def. Brittany Wowchuk (NU) 7-6, 6-4
6. Nida Hamilton (NU) def. Jasmine Minor (GT) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #9 Linda Abu Mushrefova / Nida Hamilton (NU) def. #67 Kendal Woodard / Megan Kurey (GT) 8-6
2. Veronica Corning / Alicia Barnett (NU) def. Jasmine Minor / Natasha Prokhnevska (GT) 8-4
3. Elizabeth Kilborn / Muriel Wacker (GT) def. Kate Turvy / Belinda Niu (NU) 8-4
Match Notes:
Northwestern 8-7, 2-1 Big Ten; National ranking #11
Georgia Tech 7-6, 1-2 ACC; National ranking #33
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,6,1,3,5,4)
–RamblinWreck.com–
