THE FLATS – In over a four-hour battle, No. 22 Georgia Tech women’s tennis took No. 10 Duke to the final set, but could not pull out a victory as the Blue Devils escaped with a 4-3 decision on Friday evening. The Yellow Jackets won the doubles point and captured singles victories from Scarlett Nicholson and Kate Sharabura in the match. Tech moved to 7-6 overall and 2-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
DOUBLES
Pairing together for the first time this season, Taly Licht and Meera Jesudason were the first doubles match to finish and the Jackets cruised to a 6-3 victory at the No. 3 seed. Facing Emma Jackson and Liv Hovde, the Jackets shook off a 1-3 early deficit to move back on serve at 3-all. Licht and Jesudason broke open the match, winning the next three games to capture the win.
Duke took a win at the top seed, leaving the doubles point to be decided on court two where Alejandra Cruz and Given Roach battled Shavit Kimchi and Eleana Yu. The opponents traded games to a 6-all standstill and remained even at 4-4 in the tiebreak. The Jackets persevered and won the next three points to clinch the doubles point with a 7-6 (7-4) victory.
SINGLES
Duke quickly tied the match at 1-1, winning a straight-set singles match on court five to open singles play. But the Jackets retook the lead when Sharabura dominated Yu on court three, 6-3, 6-4. After winning three-straight games to take the first set, Sharabura and Yu were on serve at 4-4 in the second set before the Jacket broke and served out the match for a 2-1 Georgia Tech lead.
Nicholson cushioned Tech’s lead to 3-1, rebounding with a three-set win on court two over Hovde. The Blue Devil took the first set, 6-4, but Nicholson gained momentum and commanded the second set, 6-1. Nicholson continued her dominating play in the third set, opening with a 5-1 lead and pocketing the match, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
But the lead was short-lived as Duke won the next three matches to come-from-behind for the win. After the Blue Devils won matches on courts one and six, all eyes turned to court four where the deciding match between Roach and Jackson was in a third set. After Jackson won the first set, 6-3, Roach took a 4-2 lead in the second. The foes worked back to a 6-6 standstill as Roach held a 6-2 lead in the tiebreak before Jackson fought back to 6-6. But Roach held steady and won the tiebreaker, 8-6, to force a deciding third set. Jackson jumped out with a 4-0 lead in the third set and clinched the win for Duke, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
Georgia Tech continues this homestand welcoming No. 5 North Carolina to the Ken Byers Tennis Complex on Sunday. First serve is slated for noon.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. No. 14 Ellie Coleman/Irina Balus (Duke) def. Scarlett Nicholson/Kylie Bilchev (GT) 6-2
2. Alejandra Cruz/Given Roach (GT) def. Shavit Kimchi/Eleana Yu (Duke) 7-6 (4) *
3. Taly Licht/Meera Jesudason (GT) def. Emma Jackson/Liv Hovde (Duke) 6-3
Order of finish: 3,1,2*
Singles
1. No. 13 Irina Balus (Duke) def. No. 113 Alejandra Cruz (GT) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1
2. No. 94 Scarlett Nicholson (GT) def. Liv Hovde (Duke) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
3. Kate Sharabura (GT) def. No. 33 Eleana Yu (Duke) 6-3, 6-4
4. No. 29 Emma Jackson (Duke) def. Given Roach (GT) 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3*
5. No. 60 Shavit Kimchi (Duke) def. Taly Licht (GT) 6-1, 6-2
6. Ellie Coleman (Duke) def. Olivia Carneiro (GT) 7-6 (3), 6-2
Order of finish: 5,3,2,1,6,4*
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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