THE FLATS – No. 10 Georgia Tech women’s tennis won a gritty 6-1 victory over No. 12 Wake Forest Sunday afternoon behind the doubles point and six singles victories. Freshman Rosie Garcia Gross clinched the match for the Yellow Jackets from the five seed as Tech improved to 14-5 overall and 4-1 in league play.
DOUBLES ACTION: Taking an early lead in doubles play, the Yellow Jackets clinched a crucial doubles point heading into singles action. On court one, both teams held serve to open with a 1-1 tie before Tech’s No. 17 pair of Kenya Jones and Victoria Flores won the next five games to capture a 6-1 victory over No. 11 MC Meredith and Eliza Omirou. The point was clinched at number three doubles by Gia Cohen and Nami Otsuka. Tech took a 2-0 lead and extended its advantage to 4-3 over Anna Brylin and Saby Nihalani. The Jackets held for a 6-3 victory to clinch a 1-0 match lead for Georgia Tech.
SINGLES ACTION: Wake Forest evened the match at 1-all, winning its only singles match of the afternoon on court three in straight-sets, but the lead was short-lived as Tech won the next five matches to secure the win. Senior Nadia Gizdova returned the lead to the Yellow Jackets from court six, as the Jacket downed Alexis Franco, 6-1, 6-1, before No. 23 Jones pushed Tech’s lead out to 3-1. On court one, Jones opened with a 3-0 lead over No. 29 Carolyn Campana and took the first set, 6-2. The senior controlled the second set, winning, 6-3, to extend Tech’s lead.
Garcia Gross clinched the match for the Jackets from court five where she topped Chandler Carter in straight-sets. The Yellow Jacket took a 3-0 lead over Carter in the opening set and won, 6-1, before the opponents worked through a challenging second set. Tied at 3-all in the second set, Garcia Gross took a 5-3 lead, but Carter rallied back to knot the set at 6-6. Garcia Gross proved victorious in the tiebreak, 7-3, to clinch the match for Georgia Tech, 4-1.
Otsuka extended Tech’s lead, capturing a three-set win over Campana, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, before No. 71 Flores capped the match with a 6-4, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (9) win over No. 79 Omirou on court two for the final 6-1 score.
“It was much closer than the score would indicate today,” said head coach Rodney Harmon. “Wake Forest has a very good team and we knew we had to play our best and at a very high level against them. I thought we played well in doubles and I was proud of the way we competed in singles. We have another tough stretch coming up at North Carolina and Virginia Tech.”
UP NEXT: Georgia Tech opens a five-game road swing beginning at North Carolina on Friday, March 6. First serve in Chapel Hill is slated for 3 p.m.
RESULTS
Doubles
1-No. 17 Kenya Jones/Victoria Flores (GT) def. No. 11 MC Meredith/Eliza Omirou (WFU) 6-1
2-Nadia Gizdova/Sophia Sassoli (GT) vs. Carolyn Campana/Chandler Simpson (WFU) 4-3, DNF
3-Gia Cohen/Nami Otsuka (GT) def. Anna Brylin/Saby Nihalani (WFU) 6-3
Order of finish: 1,3
Singles
1-No. 23 Kenya Jones (GT) def. No. 29 Carolyn Campana (WFU) 6-2, 6-3
2-No. 71 Victoria Flores (GT) def. No. 79 Eliza Omirou (WFU) 6-4, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (9)
3-Saby Nihalani (WFU) def. No. 110 Gia Cohen (GT) 6-1, 6-1
4-Nami Otsuka (GT) def. Anna Campana (WFU) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
5-Rosie Garcia Gross (GT) def. Chandler Carter (WFU) 6-1, 7-6 (3)
6-Nadia Gizdova (GT) def. Alexis Franco (WFU) 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 3,6,1,5,4,2
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the A-T Fund’s Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes, and Athletics Initiative 2020, Georgia Tech athletics’ ongoing $125 million initiative to allow Tech to recruit the nation’s most elite student-athletes, build a better student-athlete once they arrive on The Flats and, ultimately, win! To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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