STILLWATER, OKLA. – No. 6 Georgia Tech grabbed the doubles point, but No. 5 Pepperdine collected four singles matches to clinch a 4-2 win in a nearly four-hour battle on day one of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Friday. The loss moved Tech to 6-1 on the season.
DOUBLES – The Yellow Jackets took two of three doubles matches against the Waves to grab the early match lead. After Pepperdine took court three, Tech quickly evened the field, winning on court one. No. 5 Kenya Jones and Victoria Flores raced out with a 4-1 lead over Shiori Fukuda and Jessica Failla, and pocketed the match, 6-3, leaving the doubles point to be decided on court two.
Gia Cohen and Ruth Marsh partnered up on court two to face Nikki Redelijk and Astrid Olsen. The Jackets moved back on serve with a break at 5-all and held serve to take a 6-5 lead. The Waves fought off four match points in the next game to knot the match at 6-all and force a tiebreak. Cohen and Marsh opened the tiebreak with a 4-1 edge and held strong for the 7-5 victory for the Jackets.
SINGLES – The match was evened at 1-apiece with Pepperdine taking court one, 6-3, 6-3, before Cohen returned the lead to the Jackets from court three. After dropping the first set to Taisiya Pachkaleva, 6-3, Cohen regrouped and took the second set, 6-3. Cohen claimed a 4-2 lead early in the deciding set and held strong for a 6-4 win to give Tech a 2-1 match lead.
The Waves rallied to take the next three singles matches to clinch the win. Lexi Ryngler grabbed a 7-6 (6), 7-5 on court four over Mahak Jain before Lisa Zaar gave Pepperdine its first lead of the match from court five. Carol Lee forced a third set against Zaar, splitting the first two, but the Wave took the final set, 6-2, for a 3-2 tally. The match was clinched on court six where Nikki Redelijk topped Rosie Garcia Gross in three sets, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.
“We fought really hard against a really good Pepperdine team,” said head coach Rodney Harmon. “It was a long match, lasting almost four hours. We will need to regroup tomorrow for another tough match versus Ohio State.”
UP NEXT – Tech will face No. 9 Ohio State in the back draw on Saturday morning at 10 am. EST.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
1. No. 5 Kenya Jones/Victoria Flores (GT) def. Shiori Fukuda/Jessica Failla (PEPP) 6-3
2. Ruth Marsh/Gia Cohen (GT) def. Nikki Redelijk/Astrid Olsen (PEPP) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Taisiya Pachkaleva/Lisa Zaar (PEPP) def. Carol Lee/Monika Dedaj (GT) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
1. No. 33 Jessica Failla (PEPP) def. No. 13 Kenya Jones (GT) 6-3, 6-3
2. No. 56 Victoria Flores (GT) vs. No. 12 Shiori Fukuda (PEPP) 6-7 (8-10), 7-6 (7-5), 2-5, DNF
3. No. 123 Gia Cohen (GT) def. No. 88 Taisiya Pachkaleva (PEPP) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. No. 45 Lexi Ryngler (PEPP) def. Mahak Jain (GT) 7-6 (8-6), 7-5
5. Lisa Zaar (PEPP) def. Carol Lee (GT) 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2
6. Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) def. Rosie Garcia Gross (GT) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6
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