Feb. 24, 2010
ATLANTA – Sophomore Irina Falconi defeated the nation’s 18th-ranked player but the Georgia Tech Women’s Tennis team (6-3, 0-1 ACC) dropped its conference opener, 5-2, to Clemson (11-2, 1-0) Wednesday.
“Clemson played really well today,” head coach Bryan Shelton said. “We had some opportunities but we just did not capitalize on all of them. We have a lot of tennis this week and I am looking forward to the rest of it.”
Tech opened the day dropping two of three doubles matches to fall behind Clemson, 1-0. The Yellow Jackets dropped doubles matches on court two and three though the Georgia Tech duo of Falconi and Sasha Krupina would capture an 8-6 upset win over No. 16 Josipa Bek and Ina Hadziselimovic at No. 1 doubles.
Falconi, the nation’s No. 1 player, would even the score at 1 apiece when she defeated 18th-ranked Bek, 6-3, 6-1, at the top singles position. This marked Falconi’s 19th singles win of the 2009-10 season and 14th over a ranked opponent.
The Tigers would storm back to take a 3-1 lead, as Hadziselimovic defeated Viet Ha Ngo, 7-6, 6-1, on court three and Keri Wong would upend Sasha Krupina is three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 6-0, at the No. 2 singles spot.
Clemson would clinch the victory behind Lauianne Henry’s 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 5 singles over freshman Elizabeth Kilborn.
Sophomore Hillary Davis would earn the Jackets other victory of the day at No. 6 singles.
The Yellow Jackets will take a two-match road trip this weekend when they travel to No. 7 Notre Dame Saturday and No. 2 Northwestern Sunday. The Yellow Jackets and Fighting Irish will play at 11 a.m., while the Wildcats match will begin at 1 p.m.
-RamblinWreck.com-
