March 24, 2010
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Sophomore Irina Falconi defeated No. 7 Laura Vallverdu but the 13th-ranked Georgia Tech Women’s Tennis team (9-6, 0-2 ACC) fell to No. 11 Miami (10-3, 4-0), 5-2, Wednesday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
In the day’s marquee match, Falconi, the nation’s top-ranked player, defeated Vallverdu, 6-4, 6-4 but the match would not play into the day’s final outcome. The Hurricanes victory snapped a nine-match losing streak to the Yellow Jackets.
“We competed pretty well today but just couldn’t get our nose in front in the doubles matches,” head coach Bryan Shelton said. “That really hurt us in front of their home crowd. It was a great win for Irina but an even bigger win for Lynn [Blau]. She has been knocking on the door for a while and it was nice to see her put it together for the win today. Overall, I am really proud of our effort today.”
Georgia Tech’s No. 3 doubles tandem of Viet Ha Ngo and Elizabeth Kilborn picked up an 8-4 win over Anna Bartenstein and Claudia Wasilewski but Tech losses on courts one and three gave the Hurricanes an early 1-0 lead in the match.
Miami opened a 2-0 lead when No. 33 Bianca Eichkorn shot past No. 86 Sasha Krupina, 6-2, 6-1 on court two. The lead was extended to 3-0 as No. 62 Anna Bartenstein finished off Ngo, 6-3, 6-0, from the No. 3 singles position.
The Yellow Jackets were finally able to get on the board when Lynn Blau captured an impressive 6-4, 6-1 victory over Danielle Mills on court four.
With the score at 3-1, Wasilewski was able to clinch the match for the Hurricanes when she upended Hillary Davis, 6-0, 6-3, from the No. 6 position in the lineup.
The Yellow Jackets will return home this weekend for a pair of conference matches. On Saturday, the Jackets will host Wake Forest for its annual “Ace for the Cure” event. Tech will take pledges for each ace or flat donations with all proceeds going to the Atlanta Chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The Jackets will then face NC State Sunday at the Bill Moore Tennis Center. Both matches will begin at noon.
-RamblinWreck.com-
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