STARKVILLE, Miss. – No. 12 Georgia Tech women’s tennis swept Memphis on Monday afternoon, 7-0, to collect its first win of the season. The Yellow Jackets and Tigers wrapped up the holiday weekend with a neutral match at Mississippi State.
DOUBLES ACTION – The Jackets (1-0) took the early match lead, winning the doubles point with victories from courts one and three. No. 5 Kenya Jones and Victoria Flores wasted no time, opening with a 5-0 lead over Sophie Abrams and Aran Teixido Garcia on court one. The Yellow Jacket duo sealed the win, 6-1. Monika Dedaj and Ava Hrastar clinched the point for Tech from court three. The pair opened a 5-3 lead over Josephine Cao and Claire Sullivan, and Hrastar served out the match for a 6-4 victory. Memphis grabbed its only doubles victory from the two spot as Katherine Cao and Alisha Reayer topped Gia Cohen and Carol Lee. Knotted at 5-all, the Tigers took the next two games to pocket the match, 7-5.
SINGLES ACTION – Mahak Jain cushioned Tech’s lead to 2-0 with a dominating win on court six. The freshman pocketed the first set over Dolavee Tumthong, 6-2, and raced out with a 3-0 lead in the second set. Jain captured her third singles win of the weekend winning the second set, 6-1. Hrastar put the Jackets on the verge of victory with a convincing win on court two over Garcia. After rolling to a 6-1 first set, Hrastar took a 4-2 lead over the Tiger and pocketed the win with a 6-2 second set. Tech clinched the win with a straight-set win from Lee on court five. Facing Laura Bente, the Jacket narrowly trailed 3-2 in the opening set, but won the next four games to take a set lead over the Tiger. She clinched the match with a second set, 6-3, win to put the Jackets up 4-0.
No. 56 Flores extended Tech’s lead to 5-0, holding strong for a 6-3, 6-4 win over Reayer on court three. The Jacket held a comfortable 5-0 lead in the opening set and carried momentum through the match to collect her second singles win of the weekend. Competing at the top spot, No. 13 Jones responded to dropping the first set against Abrams, by controlling the final two sets to collect a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win. Cohen completed the sweep over Memphis, winning a super tiebreak on court four, 7-6, 2-6, 1-0 (10-2).
“I felt like we played well this weekend,” said head coach Rodney Harmon. “We did what we needed to do today to get the win. I was very proud of our freshmen. They were first off the courts today and led us to victory. Our No. 1 doubles team dominated this weekend and I was very happy to see that. But we still have work to do. Overall, I’m happy with our matches and we’re looking forward to getting back home and competing again this upcoming weekend against some very competitive teams.”
UP NEXT – The Jackets open its home slate this weekend, hosting the ITA Kickoff, Jan. 23-24. Tech will welcome a competitive field to the Ken Byers Tennis Complex with No. 6 Duke, No. 22 Michigan and No. 14 South Carolina all competing for a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
1. No. 5 Kenya Jones/Victoria Flores (GT) def. Sophie Abrams/Aran Teixido Garcia (MEM) 6-1
2. Katherine Cao/Alisha Reayer (MEM) def. Gia Cohen/Carol Lee (GT) 7-5
3. Monika Dedaj/Ava Hrastar (GT) def. Josephine Cao/Claire Sullivan (MEM) 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
SINGLES
1. No. 13 Kenya Jones (GT) def. Sophie Abrams (MEM) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
2. Ava Hrastar (GT) def. Aran Teixido Garcia (MEM) 6-1, 6-2
3. No. 56 Victoria Flores (GT) def. Alisha Reayer (MEM) 6-3, 6-4
4. No. 123 Gia Cohen (GT) def. Camila Soares (MEM) 7-6 (1), 2-6, 1-0 (10-2)
5. Carol Lee (GT) def. Laura Bente (MEM) 6-3, 6-3
6. Mahak Jain (GT) def. Dolavee Tumthong (MEM) 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 2, 5, 3, 1, 4
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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