Feb. 14, 2004
Iowa City, IA – Maria Nieto recorded Georgia Tech’s only singles victory as the Yellow Jackets (2-2) dropped a 4-3 match to Iowa (4-0) Saturday afternoon at the UI Recreation Building.
“They really outplayed us,” said Tech head coach Bryan Shelton. “I have to give them credit; they got control of the singles matches right way, jumping on us early in almost every set.”
The Yellow Jackets got off to a good start, winning at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles to earn the doubles points and go up 1-0 in the match. Lindsey Stauss and Kacie Anson teamed together in the third slot to earn an 8-6 victory over Chelsea Glynn and Jennifer Hodgman while Lyndsay Shosho and Nieto battled at No. 2 to earn a 9-8 (3) win over Deni Alexandrova and Anastasia Zhukova.
Georgia Tech was not able to sustain the lead, falling at the Nos. 1-4 positions in the singles lineup. Nieto, playing in the No. 5 slot, defeated Iowa’s Alexandrova, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, and Grant, playing No. 6 for the Jackets, won by default due to injury. Nieto now stands 4-0 in singles play this dual-match season after playing in just six dual matches all of last year, posting a 3-3 record.
“Maria just battled her way through the match and really fought hard to get the win in the end,” said Shelton. “It was a tough loss, and hopefully we’ll learn something from it and be ready to go on Thursday. We have to bounce back strong, because Auburn is a good team and they’ll be coming to our place. I think we’re a good team that will bounce back strong this coming week.”
The Yellow Jackets will return to action when they host Auburn in a match that is set to begin at 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
Iowa 4, Georgia Tech 3
(Doubles) No. 1 Mintz/Racette (IA) d. Anderson/Grant (GT), 8-4 No. 2 Nieto/Shosho (GT) d. Alexandrova/Zhurova (IA), 9-8(3) No. 3 Anson/Stauss (GT) d. Glynn/Hodgman (IA), 8-6
(Singles) No. 1 Meg Racette (IA) d. Lyndsay Shosho (GT), 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 No. 2 Hillary Mintz (IA) d. Alison Silverio (GT), 7-5, 6-1 No. 3 Chelsea Glynn (IA) d. Kelly Anderson (GT), 6-4, 6-1 No. 4 Anastasia Zhukova (IA) d. Lindsey Stauss (GT), 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 No. 5 Maria Nieto (GT) d. Deni Alexandrova (IA), 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 No. 6 Sekita Grant (GT) won by default due to injury
