NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Georgia Tech women’s tennis rebounded with a 5-2 decision on Saturday against No. 19 Ole Miss in the consolation bracket of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships at the Tennis & Fitness Center of Rocky Hill. Tech claimed the doubles point and clinched the win with four gritty singles wins.
DOUBLES ACTION: Georgia Tech claimed the doubles point over Ole Miss to gain an early 1-0 lead. The Rebels opened taking the match on court three, but the No. 11th-ranked duo of Rasheeda McAdoo and Johnnise Renaud quickly evened the score with a 6-1 triumph on court one over Arianna Hartono/Anna Vrbenska, the No. 33 doubles tandem in the country. The doubles point all came down to court two where Paige Hourigan and Kenya Jones were dominating Alexa Bortles and Natalie Suk, winning the match and clinching the point with a 6-2 decision.
SINGLES PLAY: Tech’s lead was short-lived as Ole Miss moved the match score to 1-1 taking a 6-1, 6-3 decision at court six when Bortles defeated Nadia Gizdova in straight sets. Hourigan pushed the Jackets back in the lead with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Vrbenska at court three before Renaud setup a 3-1 Tech lead with a 6-2, 6-4 win on court two over Suk. One win away from clinching the match, the Jackets had to battle on the final three courts to secure the win. After dropping the first set 6-0, No. 42 McAdoo cruised to a 6-0 second set win over No. 58 Hartono on court one and battled back from being down 4-3 in the third to take a 6-5 lead. Hartono forced a tiebreak and took the match 7-2 in the tiebreak for a 3-2 match score.
All eyes turned to courts four and five for the winning match. On court five, Otsuka entered a third set after rebounding from a 7-5 first set loss with a 7-3 tiebreak win in the second set. The freshman cruised to a 6-1 third set triumph to clinch the match for Tech. Finishing seconds later on court four, Jones also rebounded from a first set 6-3 loss to capture the second, 7-5. Jones set the final 5-2 victory for Tech with a 6-3 third set win.
QUOTABLE: “We played extremely well today against an excellent Ole Miss team. Our team had to fight at every position because Ole Miss has great players playing with a lot of confidence after winning their region.” – Head Coach Rodney Harmon
UP NEXT: Tech wraps up the consolation bracket on Sunday.
No. 11 Georgia Tech vs. No. 19 Ole Miss Results
Match Score: No. 11 Georgia Tech 5, No. 19 Ole Miss 2
DOUBLES
1. #11 McAdoo/Renaud (GT) def. #33 Hartono/Vrbenska (OM) 6-1
2. Hourigan/Jones (GT) def. Bortles/ Suk (OM) 6-2
3. Khairudinova/Jandric (OM) def. Fabian/Otsuka (GT) 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. #58 Arianne Hartono (OM) def. #42 Rasheeda McAdoo (GT) 6-0, 0-6, 7-6 (2)
2. Johnnise Renaud (GT) def. Natalie Suk (OM) 6-2, 6-4
3. Paige Hourigan (GT) def. Anna Vrbenska (OM) 6-2, 6-3
4. Kenya Jones (GT) def. Zalina Khairudinonva (OM) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
5. Nami Otsuka (GT) def. Tea Jandric (OM) 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-1
6. Alexa Bortles (OM) def. Nadia Gidzova (GT) 6-1, 6-3
Order of Finish: 6, 3, 2, 1, 5, 4
