Feb. 8, 2008
ATLANTA – Fourth-ranked Georgia Tech breezed through doubles play and notched straight-set wins in all six singles matches to blank No. 6 Georgia (4-1), 7-0, in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, which are being contested at Nielsen Stadium on the campus of the University of Wisconsin.
“Everyone came out really pumped up,” said senior captain Kristi Miller. “We had a tough fight in the doubles, but our team really stepped up their play tonight, which set the tone for singles. All of us then came out fired up in singles and really played well to pull off the victory.”
With the win, the Yellow Jackets improved to 4-1 on the season and will face Stanford in the semifinals Saturday after the top-ranked Cardinal defeated the University of Miami Friday evening. The Jackets met Stanford one year ago in the semis, when they snapped the Cardinal’s record-breaking 89-match win streak with a 4-3 victory before stopping Notre Dame in the finals the following day to capture the ITA National Team Indoor title.
“We are excited to be in the semifinals again,” Miller added. “We were here last year and know what it takes (to win), which is playing well in pressure situations. We know that we have to go out and play with no fear, regardless of who it is (that we face).”
The Jackets began the afternoon by picking up a tiebreaker win at No. 2 doubles when Whitney McCray and Amanda McDowell stopped the Bulldogs’ Yvette Hyndman and Naoko Ueshima, 9-8 (1), before the Nos. 1 and 3 doubles positions pulled off back-to-back wins to pick up the doubles point for the Jackets. Christy Striplin and Noelle Hickey knocked off Georgia’s Cameron Ellis and Adrienne Elsberry, 8-6, just one point before Kristi Miller and Kirsten Flower downed Kelley Hyndman and Monika Dancevic, 8-5, at No. 1 doubles to complete the sweep.
Fifty-sixth ranked Hickey pushed the score to 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Elsberry at No. 6 singles, and third-ranked McDowell picked up the third point of the match with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Yvette Hyndman at No. 2 singles.
No. 38 Striplin clinched the match with a 7-5, 6-0 win against Ueshima at the No. 4 singles spot before No. 7 Miller pushed the score to 5-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over 45th-ranked Kelley Hyndman atop the singles lineup.
No. 22 McCray and Flower then completed the match sweep with 6-4, 6-3 and 6-3, 6-3 wins at the Nos. 3 and 5 singles spots, respectively.
Tennis Match ResultsGeorgia vs Georgia TechFeb 08, 2008 at Madison, Wisc.
#4 Georgia Tech 7, #6 Georgia 0
Singles competition 1. #7 Kristi Miller (GT) def. #45 Kelley Hyndman (GA) 6-2, 6-3 2. #3 Amanda McDowell (GT) def. Yvette Hyndman (GA) 6-4, 6-2 3. #22 Whitney McCray (GT) def. Monika Dancevic (GA) 6-4, 6-3 4. #38 Christy Striplin (GT) def. Naoko Ueshima (GA) 7-5, 6-0 5. Kirsten Flower (GT) def. Cameron Ellis (GA) 6-3, 6-3 6. #56 Noelle Hickey (GT) def. Adrienne Elsberry (GA) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition 1. Flower/ Miller (GT) def. K. Hyndman/ Dancevic (GA) 8-5 2. McCray/ McDowell (GT) def. Y. Hyndman/ Ueshima (GA) 9-8 (7-1) 3. Striplin/ Hickey (GT) def. Ellis/ Elsberry (GA) 8-6
Match Notes: Georgia 4-1; National ranking #6 Georgia Tech 4-1; National ranking #4 Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,2,4,1,3,5)
–GT–
