Jan. 30, 2011
ATLANTA – In its second day of the ITA Kick-off Championship, Sunday, the Georgia Tech women’s tennis team remained undefeated in 2011 with a 4-2 victory over South Florida and earned a spot in the ITA National Indoor Team Championship in mid-February.
“I am excited that we had a good day today against South Florida,” said Head Coach Bryan Shelton. “I thought our team showed some real toughness after playing inside for a few weeks in a row to come outside and win two really good matches against Iowa and USF and that says a lot. USF, Iowa and Illinois all presented a lot of problems, which we were able to overcome, but they are all great teams and will have a good 2011 season.”
In a tough doubles battle, Georgia Tech came out on the winning end as the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles fought back to earn the victory. After Lynn Blau and Elizabeth Kilborn won their match, and Caroline Lilley and Sasha Krupina fell, Viet Ha Ngo and Jillian O’Neill defeated Irene Rehberger and Ecaterina Vasenina to earn the double point for the Yellow Jackets.
Tech added to their lead in singles play as both No. 6 Rocio Alberca Lopez and No. 5 Sasha Krupina defeated their USF opponents in straight sets. Lopez took the victory with a 6-4, 6-1 thrashing while Krupina pulled out the win, 6-1, 7-6 to give Tech a 3-0 lead.
USF fought back earning the next two points of the match as O’Neill and Blau fell in their matches at No.3 and No. 4 singles. O’Neill dropped her match 6-1, 7-5, while Blau fell in three sets 6-1, 3-6, 1-6.
In a marathon match, Lilley earned the victory for the Jackets winning in straight sets over Ecaterina Vasenina 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). Lilley had the lead 4-1 in the second set before giving up three straight points, but battled back and earned the tiebreak win to help the Huskies to remain undefeated in 2011.
Due to time constraints, the match between Ngo and Irene Rehberger, which went to three sets was stopped after a Ngo had a 1-0 lead in the third.
“Our next step is to look ahead,” continued Shelton. We have a great match coming up on Friday in Athens and we are going to start getting prepared for that one.”
The Jackets are back in action on Friday, February 4 at 5 p.m. in Athens, Ga., where they will take on rival Georgia in a dual meet.
#13 Georgia Tech 5, #28 South Florida 2
Singles competition:
1. Viet Ha Ngo (GT) vs. Irene Rehberger (USF) 3-6, 7-5, 1-0
2. Caroline Lilley (GT) def. Ecaterina Vasenina (USF) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
3. Janette Bejikova (USF) def. Jillian O’Neill (GT) 6-1, 7-5
4. Loreto Alonso (USF) def. Lynn Blau (GT) 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
5. Sasha Krupina (GT) def. Allessandra Bonte (USF) 6-1, 7-6
6. Rocio Alberca Lopez (GT) def. Kate Parker (USF) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles competition:
1. Janette Bejikova/Loreto Alonso (USF) def. Caroline Lilley/Sasha Krupina (GT) 8-4
2. Viet Ha Ngo/Jillian O’Neill (GT) def. Irene Rehberger/Ecaterina Vasenina (USF) 8-5
3. Lynn Blau/Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) def. Kate Parker/Allessandra Bonte (USF) 8-4
Match Notes:
South Florida 1-1; National ranking #28
Georgia Tech 3-0; National ranking #13
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,5,3,4,2)
T-3:34 A-123
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