April 17, 2011
ATLANTA – The 13th-ranked Georgia Tech women’s tennis team dropped its regular season finale, 6-1, to the 17th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center on the Georgia Tech campus. With the loss, the Yellow Jackets fall to 12-9 overall and 5-6 in the ACC, while the Cavaliers improved to 18-6 in all matches and 7-4 in league play.
“I think overall we fought extremely hard,” head coach Bryan Shelton said. “I thought our girls really came ready to play today and put a lot of effort into this entire week. We wanted to get it done for Sasha today with it being her final home match. We fell short of the goal, but in some ways, I was very proud of the effort, the hustle and the battle. At the end of the day, you have to give Virginia a lot of credit for coming in here and playing as well as they did and fighting as hard as they did. I thought they did a great job from start to finish. That was a battle today.
“You want to see your team, if you’re going to go down, to go down fighting, scratching, and clawing,” Shelton added. “I thought we did that today. In almost every spot, we stayed in there and went the distance. That’s certainly what you want. Your best tennis isn’t going to be there every single day, but you need to have your best effort. I thought our attitudes were good and we put our best effort out there, and we just got beat out there today.”
Tech again wasn’t able to overcome falling behind early as Virginia grabbed the doubles point to begin the match. The Cavaliers took the early edge with an 8-5 victory by Caryssa Peretz and Maria Fucillo over Tech’s Viet Ha Ngo and Sasha Krupina on court three doubles. UVA would clinch the doubles point with another 8-5 win by their number two pair and 31st-ranked Emily Fraser and Hana Tomljanovic over the Yellow Jackets’ Elizabeth Kilborn and Lynn Blau.
Court one doubles lived up to the hype of being both sides’ number one doubles teams. The entire match saw long points, aggressive play, and great shot making from both the Cavaliers and the Jackets. Despite falling behind early, Tech’s tandem of Jillian O’Neill and Caroline Lilley rallied for a 9-7 win over Virginia’s 56th-ranked Lindsey Hardenbergh and Erin Vierra.
Virginia continued its momentum by landing the first blow in singles play with a 6-3, 6-3 win by Fuccillo over Tech’s Kilborn on court six. Lilley earned a 6-4 first set win and rallied for a hard fought 7-6(7-5) second set tiebreak to earn the Yellow Jackets’ first point of the day.
UVA’s Tomljanovic grabbed a 7-6, 6-3 win over Tech’s Blau on court four to put the Cavaliers within one point of the team victory. Virginia’s 42nd-ranked Hardenbergh clinched the Cavalier victory with a hard-fought 7-6, 7-6 victory over Tech’s 39th-ranked O’Neill on court one.
Virginia’s Peretz rallied after losing the first set 7-6 to win the final two sets, 6-3, 6-2 from the fifth spot in the lineup. The Cavaliers’ Vierra finished off the UVA win with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win over Tech’s Ngo in the final battle of the day to end.
“I thought Virginia fought hard,” Shelton said. “They made us make the plays. Under pressure, I think there were probably more unforced errors off our rackets than off of theirs. I thought that was the difference. I didn’t think they necessarily stepped up and hit winners against us, they were just a little more solid under pressure. On the big points, we made unforced errors. But I give our team a lot of credit for how hard they fought.”
The Yellow Jackets will be back in action this coming weekend at the ACC Tournament at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C. Play for the four-day event begins on Thursday, April 21, at 9:00 a.m. The bottom eight seeds will play on the first day, while the top four teams will receive first round byes and begin play on Friday.
“We just keep moving forward,” Shelton said. “The ACC Tournament is next. For our team, it’s just about regrouping, catching a little bit of rest, getting our legs fresh and coming out there in Cary, a place where we’ve played really well in the past and start creating some new good memories up there.”
“Hopefully we get another chance at the ACC Tournament to play some of the teams that we lost to in the regular season and see if we can turn it around,” Shelton added.
Fans can follow Tech tennis on Twitter, @GT_WTEN, for instant updates and live scoring will be available through RamblinWreck.com.
Match Results
Virginia at Georgia Tech
April 17, 2011 in Atlanta, Ga.
#17 Virginia 6, #13 Georgia Tech 1
Singles competition:
1. #42 Lindsey Hardenbergh (UVA) def. #39 Jillian O’Neill, 7-6, 7-6
2. #94 Caroline Lilley (GT) def. #52 Emily Fraser (UVA), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
3. #106 Erin Vierra (UVA) def. #66 Viet Ha Ngo (GT), 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
4. #98 Hana Tomljanovic (UVA) def. Lynn Blau (GT), 7-6, 6-3
5. Caryssa Peretz (UVA) def. Sasha Krupina (GT), 6-7, 6-3, 6-2
6. Maria Fuccillo (UVA) def. Elizabeth Kilborn (GT), 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition:
1. Jillian O’Neill/Caroline Lilley (GT) def. #56 Lindsey Hardenberg/Erin Vierra/ (UVA), 9-7
2. #31 Emily Fraser/Hana Tomljanovic (UVA) def. Elizabeth Kilborn/Lynn Blau (GT), 8-5
3. Caryssa Peretz/Maria Fucillo (UVA) def. Viet Ha Ngo/Sasha Krupina (GT), 8-5
Match Notes:
Georgia Tech 12-9, 5-6 ACC; National ranking #13
Virginia 18-6, 7-4 ACC; National ranking #17
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,2,4,1,5,3)
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