DURHAM, N.C. – The sixth-ranked Georgia Tech women’s tennis team claimed a share of the ACC regular season title after dropping its first ACC match of the season at No. 15 Duke, 4-3. The Jackets claimed the doubles point, but the Blue Devils held strong in singles for the win to close out the regular season and snap Tech’s 17-match win streak. With the loss, Georgia Tech ended the regular season 23-3 overall and 13-1 in the ACC, sharing first place with Duke and North Carolina.
DOUBLES ACTION: The Jackets won a difficult doubles point, breaking serves on courts one and two to seal the early lead. Battling on court one, Paige Hourigan and Kenya Jones broke serve at 4-3 to go up 5-3, but the Blue Devils put the match back on serve breaking the Jackets at 5-4. With Duke serving, the Tech duo finished out the match for a 6-4 victory over No. 45 Meible Chi/Kaitlyn McCarthy to take the first doubles match. On court two, the Jacket pair of Johnnise Renuad and Rasheeda McAdoo raced out to a 5-2 lead, but Duke held strong, drawing the match to 5-4. The Jackets broke serve at 5-4 to clinch the doubles point for Tech with a 6-4 triumph over No. 80 Calena Scholl/Alyssa Smith. Battling on court three, Nami Otuska and Luca Fabian fought off match point at 5-3 to break serve and move to 5-4, but the match was suspended once the point was clinched.
SINGLES PLAY: Leading the match 1-0 after claiming the doubles point, Duke captured four of the six singles matches to erase its early deficit. Jones pushed the score to 2-0 in favor of the Jackets dominating on court five, defeating Alyssa Smith, 6-2, 6-0. Duke got on the scoreboard, taking a straight set win on court one as No. 85 Harris edged No. 47 McAdoo, 6-3, 6-4, setting up a 2-1 score. Renaud put Tech up 3-1 winning on court two. The junior grabbed the first set 6-3, and won a tight second set in a tiebreak, 7-6. Trailing 5-1 in the tiebreak, Renaud stormed back and won the next six points to take the match.
With Tech leading the match 3-1, the Blue Devils needed the remaining three matches to take the win. Duke pulled within one point, 3-2, taking court six, 7-6 (3), 6-1. With courts three and four both trailing a break in the third sets, the Blue Devils hold strong and won on both courts three and four to come-from-behind and take the win, 4-3.
Tech’s final 13-1 mark in the ACC marks the most ACC wins in program history.
QUOTABLE: “Today was a tough match. Hats off to Duke – they outplayed us when the match was on the line.” – Head Coach Rodney Harmon
UP NEXT: Georgia Tech earned the No. 3 seed in the 2017 ACC Women’s Tennis Championship. The Jackets, which earned a bye in the first two rounds, open the tournament on Friday, April 28 at 4 p.m. The ACC Championship will take place April 26-30 at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga.
No. 6 Georgia Tech at No. 15 Duke
Match Score: No. 15 Duke 4, No. 6 Georgia Tech 3
DOUBLES
1. Paige Hourigan/Kenya Jones (GT) def. No. 45 Meible Chi/Kaitlyn McCarthy (Duke) 6-4
2. No. 21 Rasheeda McAdoo/Johnnise Renaud (GT) def. No. 80 Chalena Scholl/Alyssa Smith (Duke) 6-4
3. Nami Otsuka/Luca Fabian (GT) vs. Samantha Harris/Alyssa Hamlin (Duke) 4-5, DNF
Order of finish: 1,2
Point: Georgia Tech
SINGLES
1. No. 85 Samantha Harris (Duke) def. No. 47 Rasheeda McAdoo (GT) 6-3, 6-4
2. No. 83 Johnnise Renaud (GT) def. No. 36 Meible Chi (Duke) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
3. No. 56 Chalena Scholl (Duke) def. No. 81 Paige Hourigan (GT) 6-7 (2_, 6-2, 6-2
4. Kaitlyn McCarthy (Duke) def. Nami Otsuka (GT) 5-7, 6-2, 6-3
5. Kenya Jones (GT) def. Alyssa Smith (Duke) 6-2, 6-0
6. Alyssa Hamlin (Duke) def. Luca Fabian (GT) 7-6 (3), 6-1
Order of finish: 5, 1, 2, 6, 4, 3
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