Feb. 25, 2006
ATLANTA – Sophomore All-American Kristi Miller survived a second-set tiebreaker at No. 1 singles and Kacie Anson and Alison Silverio provided the clinching doubles victory to help No. 5 Georgia Tech (6-1) sweep the first four points en route to a 6-1 win over No. 18 Georgia (3-5)Saturday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
With the win, Miller earned the fourth and deciding point in the match for the Yellow Jackets, who earned just their second victory against the Bulldogs in the program’s history. Tech’s first win over Georgia came a year ago in Athens.
“I’m proud of our whole team,” said Georgia Tech head coach Bryan Shelton. “This is the biggest match for us every year, and I thought that it was great that we were able to compete so hard and execute under pressure.”
Miller, ranked sixth in the nation in singles play, fell 6-7 (5) in a first-set tiebreaker against 30th-ranked Natalie Frazier and had to pull out a 7-6 (5) victory in a second-set tiebreaker to set up the deciding third frame, which she won, 6-1.
With the Jackets and Bulldogs splitting the first two doubles matches, Anson and Silverio pulled out an 8-6 victory at No. 3 doubles against Kelley Hyndman and Natalie Frazier to clinch the doubles point for the Yellow Jackets.
“I was especially proud of Kacie today,” said Shelton, “and the way that she stepped up her doubles play. Alison was also fantastic today and was a strong competitor out on the court.”
Tech’s 55th-ranked duo of Kelly Anderson and Whitney McCray stopped Georgia’s 14th-ranked Darya Ivanov and Evgenia Subbotina, 8-3 at No. 2 doubles before the Bulldogs ninth-ranked combination of Caroline Basu and Shadisha Robinson stopped Tech’s No. 11 Lyndsay Shosho and Kristi Miller, 8-5, to set up the No. 3 slot for the deciding point.
The Jackets pushed the score to 2-0 when Silverio quickly defeated Subbotina, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 singles, and Tech led 3-0 after 74th-ranked Shosho stopped the Bulldogs’ 45th-ranked Robinson, 6-4, 7-5.
Tech earned its fifth point when McCray, playing at No. 5 singles, came back after dropping her first set to Ivanov, 2-6, to win the next set 6-3, setting up a third-set super-tiebreaker, in which she won, 12-10.
Rounding out the Tech victors was rookie Christy Striplin, playing in the No. 6 singles slot. Striplin battled for a 7-6 (3) win in the first set and earned the sixth and final match point for the Yellow Jackets with a 6-2 win in the second set.
“I feel that we can use this win to prepare us for our upcoming match against Clemson,” Shelton added.
The Yellow Jackets will host Clemson Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
Tennis Match Results
Georgia vs Georgia Tech
Feb 25, 2006 at Atlanta, Ga.
#5 Georgia Tech 6, #18 Georgia 1
Singles competition:
1. #6 Kristi Miller (GT) def. #30 Natalie Frazier (UG) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
2. #74 Lyndsay Shosho (GT) def. #45 Shadisha Robinson (UG) 6-4, 7-5
3. Alison Silverio (GT) def. Evgenia Subbotina (UG) 6-1, 6-2
4. Caroline Basu (UG) def. Kelly Anderson (GT) 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 10-6
5. Whitney McCray (GT) def. Darya Ivanov (UG) 2-6, 6-3, 12-10
6. Christy Striplin (GT) def. Kelley Hyndman (UG) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. #9 Basu/Robinson (UG) def. #11 Miller/Shosho (GT) 8-5
2. #55 Anderson/McCray (GT) def. #14 Ivanov/Subbotina (UG) 8-3
3. Kacie Anson/Silverio (GT) def. Hyndman/Frazier (UG) 8-6
Match Notes:
Georgia 3-5; National ranking #18
Georgia Tech 6-1; National ranking #5
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,2,1,5,4,6)
