COLUMBIA, S.C. – On the opening day of the 2023 spring slate, No. 25 Georgia Tech women’s tennis swept singles action and collected a doubles victory at the Carolina Kickoff. Kate Sharabura went undefeated on the day, taking home a singles and doubles win.
Georgia Tech took all six singles matches to open the morning at the Carolina Indoor Tennis Center. Tech pocketed four straight-set victories from Rosie Garcia Gross, Mahak Jain, Ruth Marsh and Sharabura, while Kylie Bilchev and Alejandra Cruz battled to three-set wins.
Garcia Gross opened with a 4-2 lead against Jingyi Li (Wake Forest) and took the set, 6-3. The Jacket wasted no time grabbing the advantage in the second set, sweeping the victory at 6-0. Jain took home a 6-3, 6-3 decision against Nevena Carton (Wake Forest) to open the tournament with a victory. The opponents worked through a back-and-forth first set with Jain holding a 4-3 advantage. Jain won the next two games for a 6-3 opening set and shook off a slow start in the second to claim a 5-2 advantage before solidifying the win.
Facing Maddie Lynch (Wake Forest), Marsh raced out with the early lead in the first set, owning a 5-3 edge. After winning the first set, 6-4, Marsh battled for the match in the second set. Leading 5-4, the Jacket clinched the match at deuce point for the 6-4 victory. To round out straight-set wins, Sharabura made quick work of Mia Ahmad (Wake Forest), dropping only four games en route to a 6-1, 6-3 triumph.
Tech completed the sweep of singles matches with a pair of three-set victories from Bilchev and Cruz. Bilchev battled No. 27 Casie Wooten (Wake Forest), winning a hard-fought opening set. Bilchev trailed 5-2 in the first set before staging a rally, winning the next five games to take the set, 7-5. Wooten forced a deciding third set, winning the second, but Bilchev held strong, pulling out a 6-3 win in the final set. Continuing her impressive freshman campaign, Cruz defeated Whitley Pate (Wake Forest), 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to open the tournament. After splitting the first two sets, Cruz opened the deciding final set with a 3-1 lead before closing out the match at 6-3.
After concluding singles action, Tech played three doubles matches against Wisconsin. Tech’s No. 53rd-ranked doubles team of Carol Lee and Sharabura topped Alina Mukhortova and Xinyu Cai, 6-4. The Jackets had a chance to seal the match, serving at 5-3, but the Badgers broke to 5-4 before Tech clinched the win in the next game. In other doubles play, Tech dropped two hard-fought matches that came down to the final stretch.
Action continues on Saturday with the second session of the invite. Georgia Tech beings play with singles at 10 a.m., followed by doubles not before 12:30 p.m.
RESULTS
SINGLES
Ruth Marsh (GT) def. Maddie Lynch (WF) 6-4, 6-4
Kate Sharabura (GT) def. Mia Ahmad (WF) 6-1, 6-3
Rosie Garcia Gross (GT) def. Jingyi Li (WF) 6-3, 6-0
No. 104 Alejandra Cruz (GT) vs. Whitley Pate (WF) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
No. 109 Mahak Jain (GT) def. Nevena Carton (WF) 6-3, 6-3
No. 111 Kylie Bilchev (GT) vs. No. 27 Casie Wooten (WF) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
DOUBLES
No. 53 Carol Lee/Kate Sharabura (GT) def. Alina Mukhortova/Xinyu Cai (WIS) 6-4
Ava Markham/Maria Sholokhova (WIS) def. Kylie Bilchev/Alejandra Cruz (GT) 7-6 (7-1)
Charmaine Seah/Taylor Cataldi (WIS) def. Mahak Jain/Ruth Marsh (GT) 6-4
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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