BLACKSBURG, Va. – No. 8 Georgia Tech women’s tennis rebounded from dropping the doubles point at No. 41 Virginia Tech, to sweep singles play and capture the ACC road win, 6-1, Sunday afternoon. Freshman Rosie Garcia Gross clinched the match from the four seed, moving the Yellow Jackets to 15-6 overall and 5-2 in league play.
DOUBLES ACTION: Virginia Tech won a tough doubles point, claiming wins on courts two and three. Georgia Tech’s No. 6 doubles team of Kenya Jones and Victoria Flores won the first match to finish, giving the Jackets the edge in doubles play, taking a 6-1 win over No. 78 Elizabet Danailova and Nika Kozar. But the Hokies would even the doubles field with a 6-2 win on court three, leaving the point to be decided on court two where Sophia Sassoli and Nadia Gizdova trailed Shene Disbergen and Natalie Novotna, 5-3. The Jackets rallied to win the next three games and grab a 6-5 edge, but the Hokies forced a tiebreak at 6-6. VT won a tough doubles point, winning the tiebreak, 7-5, to grab the 1-0 match lead.
SINGLES ACTION: Georgia Tech would need to win four singles matches to take the match and the Yellow Jackets came out strong in singles play, winning four first sets. The Jackets would claim each of those matches in straight-sets to clinch the match at 4-1.
Concluding first, Sassoli knotted the match at 1-1, cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Chinnda Som on court six, before Gizdova handed the Jackets their first lead of the match from court five. The senior upended Disbergen 6-3, 6-1 to put GT in front, 2-1. No. 20 Jones put the Jackets on the verge of victory, downing Novotna at the top seed, 6-2, 6-1, for a 3-1 lead.
Garcia Gross clinched the match for the Jackets at the four spot. The freshman took the first set over Erika Cheng, 6-2, and led 2-0 in the second set. Garcia Gross extended her lead to 4-3 and sealed the win, 6-3, clinching Georgia Tech’s fifth ACC win of the season.
After the match was clinched, Nami Otsuka cushioned GT’s lead from court three, winning in a super tiebreak. Danailova won the first set, 6-4, but Otsuka battled back to take the second set, 6-2, to force a tiebreak. Otsuka won the tiebreak, 10-7, to give the Jackets a 5-1 lead.
The match concluded with a battle at the No. 2 spot between No. 41 Flores and Kozar. The Hokie won the first set, 6-4, but Flores won the second set in a tiebreak, 8-6, to force a super tiebreak. The conference foes battled to the final point in the tiebreak as Flores fought off match point from Kozar at 10-9, bringing the score to 10-10. Flores and Kozar continued the duel to 12-12 before Flores won the next two points to clinch the super tiebreak, 14-12, for the final 6-1 score.
UP NEXT: Georgia Tech continues this five-match road swing next weekend, visiting Syracuse on Friday, March 13. First serve is slated for 3 p.m.
RESULTS
Doubles
1- No. 6 Kenya Jones/Victoria Flores (GT) def. No. 78 Elizabet Danailova/Nika Kozar (VT) 6-1
2-Shene Disbergen/Natalie Novotna (VT) def. Nadia Gizdova/Sophia Sassoli (GT) 7-6 (7-5)
3-Erika Cheng/Chinnda Som (VT) def. Rosie Garcia Gross/Nami Otsuka (GT) 6-2-
Order of finish: 1,3,2
Singles
1-No. 20 Kenya Jones (GT) def. Natalie Novotna (VT) 6-2, 6-1
2-No. 41 Victoria Flores (GT) def. Nika Kozar (VT) 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 1-0 (14-12)
3-Nami Otsuka (GT) def. Elizabet Danailova (VT) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-7)
4-Rosie Garcia Gross (GT) def. Erika Cheng (VT) 6-2, 6-3
5-Nadia Gizdova (GT) def. Shene Disbergen (VT) 6-3, 6-1
6-Sophia Sassoli (GT) def. Chinnda Som (VT) 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6,5,1,4,3,2
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
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