Feb. 13, 2012
Charlottesville, Va. – The 13th-ranked Yellow Jackets dropped a tough 4-2 decision to No. 8 North Carolina Sunday night in both teams’ finale at the ITA National Indoor Team Championships.
The loss drops the Yellow Jackets to 4-4 on the season and the Tar Heels improve to 6-4 with the win.
For only the second time all season, the Yellow Jackets found themselves trailing after doubles play. Georgia Tech earned the early edge when Lynn Blau and Elizabeth Kilborn defeated the Tar Heels’ 43rd-ranked pair of Zoe De Bruycker and Laura Slater 8-6 on court two. Blau and Kilborn improved to 8-1 with the win, including two wins over ranked opponents.
UNC leveled the early play with a tough 8-6 win by Tessa Lyons and Haley Hemm on court three over the Jackets’ team of Muriel Wacker and Viet Ha Ngo.
The decisive doubles match would come down to court one where the Tar Heels’ pair of Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale won an 9-8 (9) battle to give UNC a 1-0 lead.
The Tar Heels extended their lead to 2-0 when 16th-ranked McHale defeated Kilborn 6-2, 6-3 on court two. UNC’s Caroline Price, ranked No. 55, made the team score 3-0 in favor of Carolina with a 7-6, 6-0 win on court four.
The Jackets earned their first point of the day when Ngo, ranked No. 106, defeated Featherston 6-4, 6-1. Blau pulled Tech back within one team point, 3-2, with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Gina Suarez-Malaguti on court five.
The final two singles matches had both gone into tiebreaking third sets.
Wacker defeated Lyons 6-4 in the first set on court six, but dropped the second 7-5 and was leading 4-2 in a third set that would’ve tied the team score 3-3.
In a battle of closely ranked opponents on court one, Tech’s 45th-ranked O’Neill beat Carolina’s 44th-ranked De Bruycker 7-5 in the first set, but the Tar Heel forced a third set with a 6-2 win in the second. In the decisive set, De Bruycker fought past O’Neill 6-4 to clinch the UNC win.
Georgia Tech will now be off until a weekend road trip to the Midwest Feb. 24-26. The Yellow Jackets will take on the 12th-ranked Northwestern Wildcats (5-3) Friday, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m. ET in Evanston, Ill. Tech will then make the short trek to South Bend, Ind., to face the No. 24 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-2) at 9 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 26.
Fans are encouraged to follow Georgia Tech women’s tennis on Twitter, @GT_WTEN, and like the Yellow Jackets on Facebook, GTWomensTennis, for an inside look at the program.
Match Results
#13 Georgia Tech vs. #8 North Carolina
Feb. 12, 2012, in Charlottesville, Va.
#8 North Carolina 4, #13 Georgia Tech 2
Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1)
1. Shinann Featherston / Lauren McHale (UNC) def. Jillian O’Neill / Alex Anghelescu (GT), 9-8 (11-9)
2. Lynn Blau / Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) def. #43 Zoe De Bruycker / Laura Slater (UNC), 8-6
3. Tessa Lyons / Haley Hemm (UNC) def. Muriel Wacker / Viet Ha Ngo (GT), 8-6
Singles (Order of Finish: 2, 4, 3, 5, 1)
1. #44 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC) def. #45 Jillian O’Neill (GT), 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
2. #16 Lauren McHale (UNC) def. Elizabeth Kilborn (GT), 6-2, 6-3
3. #106 Viet Ha Ngo (GT) def. Shinann Featherston (UNC), 6-4, 6-1
4. #55 Caroline Price (UNC) def. Jasmine Minor (GT), 7-6, 6-0
5. Lynn Blau (GT) def. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC), 6-4, 7-6
6. Muriel Wacker (GT) vs. Tessa Lyons (UNC), 6-4, 5-7, 4-2
Match Notes:
Georgia Tech 4-3, national ranking #13
North Carolina 6-4, national ranking #8
— RamblinWreck.com —
