Jan. 16, 2012
Ann Arbor, Mich. – The 13th-ranked Georgia Tech women’s tennis team swept three doubles matches from the 24th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks Monday and split six singles matches against the 10th-ranked Michigan Wolverines to wrap up the three-day, spring-opening Michigan Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Yellow Jackets began the day with doubles against Arkansas, in which Tech went a perfect 3-0. Junior Elizabeth Kilborn and senior Lynn Blau capped a 3-0 weekend with an 8-5 win over the Razorback tandem of Claudine Paulson and Abby Hayley from the top spot in the Yellow Jacket lineup.
Senior Viet Ha Ngo and sophomore Muriel Wacker improved to 2-0 in doubles play with an 8-2 win over UA’s side of Stephanie Roy and Emily Carbone from the second position. Playing together for the first time since the fall season, sophomore Alex Anghelescu and freshman Jasmine Minor downed the Arkansas pair of Kate Lukomskaya and Catherine Parenteau, 8-4.
“Overall, it was a very successful weekend for us,” assistant coach Alison Silverio said. “Everyone had an opportunity to play tough, competitive matches, and it was good to see us all competing hard to start the season.
“Knowing our goal coming in to this tournament was to work to improve each day, each match and develop, we were definitely successful doing that,” Silverio added. “It was a great way to start the season and certainly prepares us for our match with Georgia on Saturday. These were three solid teams. Michigan definitely pushed us and tested us today, and we passed the test. Now we have to continue carry this forward and continue to improve.”
Kilborn earned one of the toughest wins of the weekend and improved to 3-0 for the spring with a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) win over Michigan’s Mimi Nguyen, who is ranked No. 113, at the third spot in the singles lineup. Blau also battled to her third singles win of the weekend with a 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 win over the Wolverines’ Sarah Lee at No. 4.
Freshman Jasmine Minor capped a clean opening weekend with a 7-5, 6-4 win over U-M’s Michelle Sulahian at the sixth spot.
“It was good to see some of our players finish the weekend with perfect records,” Silverio said. “Winning helps build confidence, it breeds confidence. It certainly gives those players confidence, but it gives us as a team a lot of confidence as well. We worked really hard over the break and it’s good to see that work paying off. It’s exciting to see those results this early in the season for us as coaches.”
The Yellow Jackets will open the dual portion of their spring schedule with two matches this weekend at the Bill Moore Tennis Center. On Saturday, Tech will take on seventh-ranked Georgia in a 1 p.m. showdown and will host 68th-ranked Memphis at noon Sunday.
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.
SINGLES
Michigan vs. Georgia Tech
No. 1 — No. 36 Emina Bektas (U-M) d. No. 45 Jillian O’Neill (GT), 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 — No. 46 Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. No. 105 Viet Ha Ngo (GT), 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 — Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) d. No. 113 Mimi Nguyen (U-M), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5)
No. 4 — Lynn Blau (GT) d. Sarah Lee (U-M), 7-5, 5-7, 6-2
No. 5 — Kristen Dodge (U-M) d. Alex Anghelescu (GT), 0-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3)
No. 6 — Jasmine Minor (GT) d. Michelle Sulahian (U-M), 7-5, 6-4
DOUBLES
Arkansas vs. Georgia Tech
No. 1 — Elizabeth Kilborn/Lynn Blau (GT) d. Claudine Paulson/Abby Hayley (Ark), 8-5
No. 2 — Viet Ha Ngo/Muriel Wacker (GT) d. Stephanie Roy/Emily Carbone (Ark), 8-2
No. 3 — Alex Anghelescu/Jasmine Minor (GT) d. Kate Lukomskaya/Catherine Parenteau, 8-4
— RamblinWreck.com —
