Oct. 6, 2007
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – The Yellow Jacket All-American duo of Kristi Miller and Whitney McCray posted a straight-set win over LSU’s Megan Falcon and Hannah Robinson to advance to the title match of the 2007 ITA All-American Doubles Championships, which will be played Sunday afternoon at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
The Yellow Jackets will square off against Tennessee’s Caitlin Whoriskey and Zsofia Zubor in the championship match, which is scheduled to follow the conclusion of the singles championships that begin at 11 a.m. PT. A radio broadcast of both the singles and doubles matches can be found live on www.RadioTennis.com with Ken Thomas providing the point-by-point commentary.
Miller and McCray, the No. 3 seed in the doubles bracket, defeated the LSU tandem, 6-4, 6-1 after stopping Pepperdine’s Sylvia Kosakowski and Bianca Dulgheru, 8-5, in the round of 16 Thursday and Lauren Liu and Samantha Murray of Northwestern, 8-6, Friday.
Tech’s Maya Johansson and Amanda McDowell saw their runs in the singles championships come to an end in the semis. Both players were forced to advance through qualifying brackets and posted combined singles record of 15-2 on the week.
Johansson lost the first singles match of her career when she fell to Clemson’s Ani Mijacika in the semifinals Saturday afternoon. The Yellow Jacket freshman had won 12-consecutive matches to start the season, including nine in this week’s ITA All-American Championships.
McDowell’s run was halted by California’s Suzi Babos, the reigning ITA All-American Singles Champion and No. 4 seed in this year’s tournament. Babos continued her strong play in the championships with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over the Yellow Jacket sophomore.
The Oct.4-7 main draw of the ITA All-American Championships was preceded by two sets of qualifying tournaments. The 64-player, 32 doubles team prequalifying tournament was held last weekend, with eight players and four doubles teams advancing from there to the Oct. 2-3 64-player qualifying tournament at Riviera (where eight players and four doubles teams advanced to the main draw).
The famous Riviera Tennis Club has played host to this event since 1988 (it also hosted an intercollegiate women’s championship from 1986-88).
For more information on the 2007 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, go to: http://itatennis.com/Riviera07/main.htm.
(R32) Amanda McDowell (GT) def. No. 7 Georgia Rose (Northwestern), 6-3, 6-0(R16) McDowell (GT) def. Csilla Borsanyi (Florida), 6-3, 6-3(QF) McDowell (GT) def. Laura Vallverdu (Miami), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (9)(SF) No. 4 Suzi Babos (California) def. McDowell (GT), 6-2, 6-4
(R32) Yasmin Schnack (UCLA) def. No. 5 Kristi Miller (GT), 6-4, 6-2 (CR16) Miller (GT) received bye (CQF) Miller (GT) def. Tracy Lin (UCLA), 7-6 (3), 6-4 (CSF) Rose (Northwestern) def. Miller (GT), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
(R32) Maya Johansson (GT) def. No. 8 Celia Durkin (Stanford), 6-4, 5-4, ret. (R16) Johansson (GT) def. Lenka Broosova (Baylor), 6-2, 6-4 (QF) Johansson (GT) def. Riza Zalameda (UCLA), 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 (SF) Ani Mijacika (Clemson) def. Johansson (GT), 6-2, 6-0
(R32) Whitney McCray (GT) def. Ela Kaluder (Arkansas), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 (R16) Mijacika (Clemson) def. McCray (GT), 6-2, 6-0
(R16) No. 3 Miller/McCray (GT) def. Sylvia Kosakowski/Bianca Dulgheru (Pepperdine), 8-5 (QF) No. 3 Miller/McCray (GT) def. Lauren Liu/Samantha Murray (Northwestern), 8-6 (SF) No. 3 Miller/McCray (GT) def. Megan Falcon/Hannah Robinson (LSU), 6-4, 6-1
