THE FLATS – Battling a chilly night outside, Georgia Tech women’s tennis won the doubles point and Nami Otsuka quickly claimed a straight-set victory to cushion Tech’s lead, but Miami won the next five matches to open ACC play with a 5-2 win. The loss moved Tech to 9-5 overall and 0-1 in league play.
DOUBLES ACTION: The Jackets won a hard-fought doubles point, rebounding after the Hurricanes took the first match to finish. Miami captured a 6-1 decision on court three before Tech’s No. 37 duo of Kenya Jones and Victoria Flores evened the doubles field with a triumph on court one. The tandems stood tied at 2-2 before Tech broke to take a 3-2 edge and rattled off the next three games to pocket a 6-2 victory.
All eyes turned to court two for the final match as Gia Cohen and Nami Otsuka battled Maya Tahan and Daevenia Achong. Tied at 3-all, the Jackets broke the Hurricanes to take a 4-3 lead and opened a 5-3 advantage before Miami held off match point to 5-4. The Hurricanes couldn’t rally further as Tech clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 victory.
SINGLES ACTION: Otsuka quickly raced out in singles play with the lead over Tahan on court five. The Jacket led 3-0 and won the first set, 6-1. Otsuka opened the second set with a 3-1 lead and finished the match with a 6-3 win to give Tech a 2-0 match lead. Miami got on the scoreboard with a straight-set win on court three before tying the match at 2-2 with a win on court six. After Nada Dimovska won the first set, 6-0, Monika Dedaj took a 4-1 lead in the second set before Dimovska battled back to knot the set at 6-6. Dimovska held a 5-3 lead in the tiebreak, but Dedaj rallied back to 5-4, but the Hurricane held strong for a 7-5 win.
In a tight match on court four, Florencia Urrutia defeated Rosie Garcia Gross in straight-sets to take its first lead of the match, 3-2. In the first set tiebreak, the freshman Yellow Jacket had two set points, but Urrutia erased both and won 10-8. Urrutia won the second set, 6-2, to hand the lead to Miami. The top spot saw a battle between No. 3 Perez-Somarriba and No. 60 Jones. Jones dominated in the first set, 6-2, but the Hurricane forced a deciding third set with a 6-4 second set win. Trailing 4-3, Jones fought back to tie the set at 4-4, but Perez-Somarriba won the final two games to clinch the match for Miami, 4-2.
The final match of the afternoon came down on court two where No. 49 Flores rebounded from dropping the first set, 6-4, to Achong to force a deciding third set. Flores trailed 5-4 in the second set and fought off match point to draw the set to 5-5. The Jacket took a 6-5 lead and won the set, 7-5, to force Achong into a third. The junior opened with a 2-0 lead, but Achong won six of the final seven games to secure the match, 6-3.
UP NEXT: Georgia Tech breaks from ACC play to travel to Northwestern on Sunday. First serve is slated for 1 p.m.
RESULTS
Doubles
1-No. 37 Kenya Jones/Victoria Flores (GT) def. Esteal Perez-Somarrba/Selma Cadar (MIA 6-2
2-Gia Cohen/Nami Otsuka (GT) def. Maya Tahan/Daevenia Achong (MIA) 6-4
2-Yuna Ita/Florncia Urrutia (MIA) def. Rosie Garcia Gross/Monika Dedaj (GT) 6-1
Order of finish: 3,1,2
Singles
1-No. 3 Estela Perez-Somarriba (MIA) def. No. 60 Kenya Jones (GT) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
2-No. 85 Daevenia Achong (MIA) def. No. 49 Victoria Flores (GT) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
3-No. 104 Selma Cadar (MIA) def. No. 93 Gia Cohen (GT) 6-4,6-3
4-Florencia Urrutia (MIA) def. Rosie Garcia Gross (GT) 7-6 (8), 6-2
5-Nami Otsuka (GT) def. Maya Tahan (MIA) 6-1, 6-3
6-Nada Dimovska (MIA) def. Monika Dedaj (GT) 6-0, 7-6 (5)
Order of finish: 5,3,6,4,1,2
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
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