Oct. 22, 2011
GAINESVILLE, FLA. – Georgia Tech women’s tennis senior Jillian O’Neill advanced to the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championships with a pair of wins on Saturday at the Ring Tennis Complex on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Fla.
O’Neill, ranked No. 21, defeated USF’s Loreto Alonso, 6-2, 6-2, in her first match of the day. The Montreal, Quebec, native, faced her first ranked opponent of the weekend, Florida’s No. 85 ranked Caroline Hitimana, and cruised to a 6-2, 6-0, victory and sending herself into the quarterfinals.
O’Neill, the third seed in this weekend’s event will face another Gator, 37th-ranked Olivia Janowicz, when action resumes on Sunday.
Advancing to the quarterfinals of the consolation singles draw was freshman Jasmine Minor. The Mundelein, Ill., native downed USF’s Lucie Rey, 7-5, 6-1, in the first round of the consolation bracket. Minor then battled past UCF’s Jenna Doerfler, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, in the consolation second round.
The Yellow Jackets started the day with four wins in six singles matches in the second round of the singles main draw.
No. 44 ranked Viet Ha Ngo earned a hard fought, three-set win over North Florida’s Lorena Aviles, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1, in the second round, but fell 6-4, 6-2 to No. 73 ranked Sofie Oyen of Florida. No. 69 ranked Caroline Lilley downed Fanny Fracassi of USF, 6-2, 6-2, but lost 7-6 (4), 6-2 to 26th-ranked Joanna Mather of Florida in the third round.
Junior Elizabeth Kilborn beat Florida International’s Sarah McLean, 6-4, 6-1, but drew a very difficult matchup in the third round, and came up short against ninth ranked Chelsey Gullickson of Georgia, 6-2, 7-6 (5).
Georgia Tech was eliminated from the doubles draw on Saturday after the Jackets sixth-ranked team of Lilley and O’Neill was upset 9-8 (3) by the Gators’ side of Janowicz and Hitimana in the quarterfinals. Tech’s second doubles pair in the quarterfinals of senior Lynn Blau and Kilborn faced a stiff test in 20th-ranked Kate Fuller and Lauren Herring of Georgia and suffered a tough 8-6 defeat.
Play in the regional will begin on Sunday at 9 a.m. with the doubles semifinal to be followed by main draw singles quarterfinals on the stadium courts and the consolation draw singles quarterfinals on the back courts. The semifinals for both the main draw singles event and consolation singles event will also take place on Sunday.
For live updates throughout the day, fans can visit www.gatorzone.com/tennis/women.
Fans are encouraged to follow Georgia Tech women’s tennis on Twitter, @GT_WTEN, and like the Yellow Jackets on Facebook, GTWomensTennis, for an inside look at the program.
Saturday Results:
Singles Round 2:
No. 21 Jillian O’Neill (GT) def. Loreto Alonso (USF), 6-2, 6-2
No. 44 Viet Ha Ngo (GT) def. Lorena Aviles (UNF), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1
No. 69 Caroline Lilley (GT) def. Fanny Fracassi (USF), 6-2, 6-2
Mia Vriens (FSU) def. No. 124 Lynn Blau, (GT), 6-2, 6-1
Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) def. Sarah McLean (FIU), 6-4, 6-1
Kate Fuller (UGA) def. Muriel Wacker (GT), 6-3, 7-6 (5)
Singles Round 3:
No. 9 Chelsey Gullickson (UGA) def. Elizabeth Kilborn (GT), 6-2, 7-6 (5)
No. 21 Jillian O’Neill (GT) def. No. 85 Caroline Hitimana (UF), 6-2, 6-0
No. 26 Joanna Mather (UF) def. No. 69 Caroline Lilley (GT), 7-6 (4), 6-2
No. 73 Sofie Oyen (UF) def. No. 44 Viet Ha Ngo (GT), 6-4, 6-2
Consolation Singles Round 1:
Jasmine Minor (GT) def. Lucie Rey (USF), 7-5, 6-1
Consolation Singles Round 2:
Jasmine Minor (GT) def. Jenna Doerfler (UCF), 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
Doubles Quarterfinals:
Olivia Janowicz/Caroline Hitimana (UF) def. No. 6 Caroline Lilley/Jillian O’Neill (GT), 9-8 (3)
No. 20 Kate Fuller/Lauren Herring (UGA) def. Lynn Blau/Elizabeth Kilborn (GT), 8-6
Southeast Region School Codes:
UCF = Central Florida
FAMU = Florida A&M
FGCU = Florida Gulf Coast Univ.
FIU = Florida International Univ.
FSU = Florida State
UF = Florida
GSU = Georgia Southern
GST = Georgia State
GT = Georgia Tech
UGA = Georgia
JU = Jacksonville
KSU = Kennesaw State
UM = Miami
UNF = North Florida
USF = South Florida
SU = Stetson
— RamblinWreck.com —
