March 7, 2006
ATLANTA – Whitney McCray teamed with Kelly Anderson to clinch the doubles point and then won in straight sets in singles to lead No. 15 Georgia Tech (8-2) to just its second victory against No. 12 Vanderbilt (10-2) in 10 matches between the two schools, 7-0.
“I felt like we played our best match in a long time today,” said Georgia Tech head coach Bryan Shelton. “The entire team performed well today, as they were poised and self-confident on the court. When we had an opportunity today, we didn’t flinch.”
The Yellow Jackets earned the doubles point with wins at the top two doubles slots to take a 1-0 lead in the match. After Vandy’s Courtney Ulery and Liberty Sveke defeated Alison Silverio and Kacie Anson, 8-4, at the No. 3 doubles spot, 11th-ranked Kristi Miller and Lyndsay Shosho downed the Commodores’ Amanda Taylor and Maggie Yahner at the top slot, 8-4, setting up the No. 2 slot for the clinching point.
Tech’s 54th-ranked duo of Anderson and McCray then broke Vandy to tie the game at 8-8 and pulled out a 7-5 victory over Taka Bertrand and Amanda Fish in a tiebreaker to clinch the doubles point for the Yellow Jackets.
“It was great to see Kelly come through in doubles today,” added Shelton. “For her and Whitney to win in the tiebreaker was huge for us, and it gave us a boost going into singles.
Silverio gave the Jackets a 2-0 lead with an easy 6-1, 6-3 victory over Taylor at the No. 3 singles slot before Tech went up 3-0 when McCray, playing in the No. 4 position, defeated Ulery, 6-1, 7-6 (1).
Tech’s sixth-ranked Miller then clinched the match for Tech with a 6-3, 7-5 win over No. 40 Fish at the top singles position, while rookie Christy Striplin broke Yahner at 6-5 in the second set to pull out a 6-3, 7-5 victory for the Yellow Jackets at No. 6 singles.
The Jackets’ 60th-ranked Anderson and 74th-ranked Shosho each went to three sets in their singles matches, with Anderson coming back after losing her first set, 3-6, to win the next two over Caroline Ferrell, 7-6 (7), 6-3 at No. 5 singles, while Shosho downed the Commodores’ 19th-ranked Bertrand, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) to complete the sweep for the Yellow Jackets.
The Yellow Jackets will return to action this weekend when they host Virginia Tech on Saturday and Virginia on Sunday. Both matches will begin at 11 a.m. at the Bill Moore Tennis Center, and livestats will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com. Tech enters this weekend’s matches with a 1-0 record in Atlantic Coast Conference play after defeating Clemson, 4-3, this past week.
–GT–
Tennis Match Results
Vanderbilt vs Georgia Tech
Mar 07, 2006 at Atlanta, Ga.
#15 Georgia Tech 7, #12 Vanderbilt 0
Singles competition:
1. #6 Kristi Miller (GT) def. #40 Amanda Fish (VU) 6-3, 7-5
2. #74 Lyndsay Shosho (GT) def. #19 Taka Bertrand (VU) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4)
3. Alison Silverio (GT) def. Amanda Taylor (VU) 6-1, 6-3
4. Whitney McCray (GT) def. Courtney Ulery (VU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-1)
5. #60 Kelly Anderson (GT) def. Caroline Ferrell (VU) 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3
6. Christy Striplin (GT) def. Maggie Yahner (VU) 6-3, 7-5
Doubles competition:
1. #11 Miller/Shosho (GT) def. Taylor/Yahner (VU) 8-4
2. #54 McCray/Anderson (GT) def. Bertrand/Fish (VU) 9-8 (7-5)
3. Ulery/Liberty Sveke (VU) def. Silverio/Kacie Anson (GT) 8-4
Match Notes: Vanderbilt 10-2; National ranking #12 Georgia Tech 8-2; National ranking #15 Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,4,1,6,5,2)
