LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Winning the doubles point and four singles victories Friday afternoon, the 15th-ranked Georgia Tech women’s tennis team rolled past No. 50 Louisville, 5-2, at the Bass Rudd Tennis Center.
DOUBLES – The Yellow Jackets (13-9, 6-5 ACC) took courts one and three in doubles to grab the early match lead, 1-0. Competing at the top spot, Tech’s No. 1-ranked doubles team of Kenya Jones and Victoria Flores cruised to a 6-1 decision over Rhea Verma and Andrea Di Palma to open doubles action. The Cardinals, however, leveled the doubles field, taking a 6-1 decision on court two, leaving the point to be decided on court three. Carol Lee and Monika Dedaj grabbed a 4-2 lead over Dina Chaika and Nikolina Jovic before the Cardinals setup a 4-3 tally. Lee and Dedaj won the next two games to pocket the decision, 6-3, and clinch the doubles point for Tech.
SINGLES: To open singles action, Mahak Jain made quick work of Chaika on court six, dropping only one game en route to a 6-1, 6-0 rout of the Cardinal. Ava Hrastar cushioned Tech’s lead from the No. 4 singles spot, picking up a straight set win over Chelsea Sawyer. After trailing 4-1 in the first set, Hrastar won the next five games to erase the deficit and capture the opener, 6-4. The Jacket raced out with a 5-2 lead in the second set and secured the match, 6-4, to give Tech a 3-0 match lead.
Louisville got on the scoreboard with a victory on court three as Raven Neely collected a three-set win over Gia Cohen. After Cohen took the first set, 6-3, Neely responded winning the next two, 6-4, 6-3, to setup a 3-1 match score.
Tech solidified the victory winning the next two matches to finish as No. 13 Flores clinched the match from the two spot. Flores erased an early deficit in the first set to grab momentum and defeat No. 93 Di Palma, 6-3, 6-4, for a 4-1 match score. Jones followed with a triumph at the No. 1 singles position as the second-ranked Yellow Jacket downed Jovic in three sets. After dropping the first, 7-5, Jones surrendered only three games in the next two sets to collect her 15th singles victory of the season, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.
Louisville took the last singles match to finish on court five in a super tiebreak as Verma edged Lee, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3) to account for the final 5-2 score.
UP NEXT – The Yellow Jackets play their final regular season road match on Sunday at No. 46 Notre Dame. First serve is slated for noon at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
1. No. 1 Kenya Jones/Victoria Flores (GT) def. Rhea Verma/Andrea Di Palma (LOU) 6-1
2. No. 27 Raven Neely/Tatiana Simova (LOU) def. No. 18 Ava Hrastar/Gia Cohen (GT) 6-1
3. Carol Lee/Monika Dedaj (GT) def. Dina Chaika/Nikolina Jovic (LOU) 6-3
Order of finish: 1,2,3
SINGLES
1. No. 2 Kenya Jones (GT) def. Nikolina Jovic (LOU) 5-7, 6-2, 6-1
2. No. 13 Victoria Flores (GT) def. No. 93 Andrea Di Palma (LOU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Raven Neely (LOU) def. No. 99 Gia Cohen (GT) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
4. Ava Hrastar (GT) def. Chelsea Sawyer (LOU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Rhea Verma (LOU) def. Carol Lee (GT) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3)
6. Mahak Jain (GT) def. Dina Chaika (LOU) 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 6,4,3,2,1,5
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 Support The Swarm Fund, which helps Georgia Tech athletics offset the significant financial challenges associated with Covid-19, and the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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