CHICAGO, Ill. – Georgia Tech women’s tennis won the doubles point and Kenya Jones gave the Jackets a 2-0 lead, winning in singles action, but No. 9 Florida State rallied to win the next four matches to record a 4-2 win in ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Tech dropped to 9-4 overall on the season.
DOUBLES ACTION: The Yellow Jackets gained the early match lead, claiming the doubles point with wins on courts one and three. Finishing minutes apart, Tech’s doubles tandem of Gia Cohen and Nami Otsuka pocketed a 6-1 victory on court three over Emmanuelle Salas and Sasha Hill. The Jackets opened with a 3-0 lead and never looked back, collecting their 11th win of the season. On court one, Tech’s No. 37 pair of Kenya Jones and Victoria Flores clinched the doubles point, defeating Victoria Allen and Petra Hule, 6-2. Mirroring court three, the Jackets opened with a 3-0 advantage and gained a 5-2 lead, before sealing the win, 6-2.
SINGLES ACTION: Jones gave Tech a 2-0 lead on court one, downing Salas in straight-sets, 6-2, 6-2, before Florida State won the next three matches to take its first lead. The Seminoles got on the scoreboard, picking up a win on court six before collecting a straight-set win on court four to tie the match at 2-2. Nandini Das handed Florida State its first lead, claiming a 6-3, 6-4 win on court three for a 3-2 lead. Das took the first set 6-3, but Cohen grabbed a 4-1 lead in the second set before the Seminole rattled off five-straight games to claim the match, 6-3, 6-4.
All eyes turned to courts two and five where Georgia Tech’s Flores and Rosie Garcia Gross forced deciding third sets against their Seminole opponents. On court five, Garcia Gross battled Victoria Allen who took the first set, 6-1. Trailing 5-4 in the second set, Garcia Gross fought back to knot the set at 6-6. The freshman Yellow Jacket swept the tiebreak, 7-0, to force a third set. The opponents stood tied at 2-2 before Allen won the next four games to take the set, 6-2, and clinch the match for Florida State, 4-2.
On court two, No. 49 Flores battled Hule and held a comfortable lead in the third set before the match was clinched on five. Hule took the first set, 6-2, but Flores fought hard in the second set. Standing tied at 3-3, Flores took a 5-4 lead and pocketed the set, 6-4. The junior trailed 2-0 in the final set, but rallied back to take a 3-2 lead. Flores won deuce point to gain a 4-2 edge and led 5-2 when the match was suspended.
UP NEXT: Georgia Tech opens ACC play on Friday, Feb. 13 welcoming Miami. First serve is slated for 4 p.m. at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.
RESULTS
Doubles
1-No. 37 Kenya Jones/Victoria Flores (GT) def. No. 15 Victoria Allen/Petra Hule (FSU) 6-2
2-Monika Dedaj/Rosie Garcia Gross (GT) vs. Nandini Das/Andrea Garcia (FSU) 2-4, DNF
3-Gia Cohen/Nami Otsuka (GT) def. Emmanuelle Salas/Sasha Hill (FSU) 6-1
Order of finish: 3,1
Singles
1-No. 60 Kenya Jones (GT) def. Emmanuelle Salas (FSU) 6-2, 6-2
2-No. 49 Victoria Flores (GT) vs. Petra Hule (FSU) 2-6, 6-4, 5-2 DNF
3-No. 86 Nandini Das (FSU) def. No. 93 Gia Cohen (GT) 6-3, 6-4
4-Sasha Hill (FSU) def. Nami Otsuka (GT) 6-3, 6-4
5-Victoria Allen (FSU) def. Rosie Garcia Gross (GT) 6-1, 6-7 (0), 6-2
6-Andrea Garcia (FSU) def. Nadia Gizdova (GT) 6-0, 6-3
Order of finish: 1,6,4,3,5
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 A-T Fund’s Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes, and Athletics Initiative 2020, Georgia Tech athletics’ ongoing $125 million initiative to allow Tech to recruit the nation’s most elite student-athletes, build a better student-athlete once they arrive on The Flats and, ultimately, win! To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter (@GT_WTEN), Instagram (GT_WTEN), Facebook (Georgia Tech Women’s Tennis) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com
