THE FLATS – It all came down to the final court Sunday afternoon as No. 33 Georgia Tech battled back from dropping the doubles point to stand tied with No. 9 NC State, 3-3. Valeriya Deminova fought off two match points in the third set, but the Wolfpack held strong, sealing a 4-3 victory. The Jackets closed the regular season at 12-11 overall and 7-7 in ACC play.
DOUBLES ACTION: NC State swept doubles play to capture the early match lead, 1-0. The Wolfpack’s No. 9 duo of Anna Rogers and Alana Smith wrapped up first, winning a 6-3 decision on court one, before Claudia Wiktorin and Adriana Reami clinched the point from court two, winning 6-2.
SINGLES ACTION: Nadia Gizdova put Georgia Tech on the scoreboard, cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Amanda Rebol on court six to knot the match at 1-1. NC State retook the lead, winning on court two as No. 93 Smith pocketed a pair of 6-3 sets over Nami Otsuka to give the Wolfpack the slight edge, 2-1.
Gia Cohen moved the score to 2-all with a victory on court four. The freshman battled Liz Norman, capturing a straight-set decision. Tied at 5-5 in the first set, Cohen won the next two games to take the opener, 7-5. Norman opened the second set with an early lead, holding a 4-2 advantage, but Cohen rallied, winning the next four games to take the match with a 6-4 second set win.
No. 14 Kenya Jones captured her second top-10 singles win of the weekend from the top seed, taking down No. 8 Rogers in two sets. Jones raced out with a 5-2 lead in the first set, but Rogers won the next two games to setup a 5-4 tally. Jones pocketed the set, 6-4, to take the early advantage. Tied at 5-5 in the second set, Jones took a 6-5 edge, but Rogers forced a tiebreak winning the next game. The Wolfpack held a 4-3 advantage in the tiebreak, but Jones held strong and took a 6-4 lead in the breaker. Rogers won the next point, but Jones clinched the match with a 7-5 tiebreak victory to give Georgia Tech a 3-2 match lead.
NC State won on court five, 6-4, 6-4, to tie the match at 3-3, leaving the decision to be made on court three where Valeriya Deminova faced No. 110 Adriana Reami. The foes split sets to a deciding third set where Deminova came out with a 2-0 lead. Reami won the next two games before the foes traded the next four points to stand at 4-all. After Reami held serve for a 5-4 lead, Deminova fought off two match points to tie the set at 5-apiece, but NC State won the next two games for a 7-5 set win, clinching the 4-3 victory.
QUOTABLE: “It was a tough match today. We will regroup over the next couple of days and get ready for the ACC Tournament in Cary this week.” – Head coach Rodney Harmon
UP NEXT: Georgia Tech will head to Cary, N.C., for the ACC Championship to be played at the Cary Tennis Park, April 17-21. Tech earned the No. 8 seed and will face ninth-seeded Syracuse on Thursday, April 18 at 2:30 p.m.
RESULTS
Doubles
1-No. 9 Anna Rogers/Alana Smith (NCSU) def. Gia Cohen/Nami Otsuka (GT) 6-3
2-Claudia Wiktorin/Adriana Reami (NCSU) def. Valeriya Deminova/Keya Jones (GT) 6-2
3-Liz Norman/Bianca Moldovan (NCSU) def. Victoria Flores/Nadia Gizdova (GT) 6-3
Order of finish: 1,2,3
Singles
1-No. 14 Kenya Jones (GT) def. No. 8 Anna Rogers (NCSU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
2-No. 93 Alana Smith (NCSU) def. Nami Otsuka (GT) 6-3, 6-3
3-No. 110 Adriana Reami (NCSU) def. Valeriya Deminova (GT) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
4-Gia Cohen (GT) def. Liz Norman (NCSU) 7-5, 6-4
5-Bianca Moldovan (NCSU) def. Victoria Flores (GT) 6-4, 6-4
6-Nadia Gizdova (GT) def. Amanda Rebol (NCSU) 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6,2,4,1,5,3
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