April 19, 2002
RALEIGH, N.C. – The Georgia Tech women’s tennis team sprinted to a 3-0 lead before hanging on for a 4-3 victory over Clemson in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships in Raleigh, N.C. The four-day tournament is being held at the Millbrook Exchange Tennis Center.
The Yellow Jackets (14-8) took an early 1-0 lead on the Tigers (13-10) by winning the doubles portion of the match. Mason Miller and Jaime Wong got Tech going with a win over Clemson’s Laurence Jayet and Alix Lacelarie at No. 1 by an 8-4 score. Mysti Morris and Sekita Grant followed them at No. 2 for the Jackets and picked up a victory over the Tigers’ tandem of Anna Savitskaya and Anna Dolinska by an 8-5 score. The Tigers won the final doubles match-up of the morning as Milena Stanoycheva and Richele LeSaldo downed Tech’s Fallon Koon and Catherine Gunn by an 8-5 score.
Tech then upped its lead to 3-0 as both Catherine Gunn and Sekita Grant made quick work of their respective opponents at No.3 and No. 6 singles. Gunn continued an outstanding rookie campaign by defeating Ana Stiglic in straight sets by cruising to a 6-1, 6-2 win. Grant was equally effective at No. 6 singles as she downed Milena Stanoycheva in straight sets by scores of 7-5 and 6-0.
The Jackets looked set to end the match early by a 4-0 margin, but Clemson rallied to even the match 3-3 with wins at the No. 1, 2 and 4 singles spots to leave the deciding match at No. 5 singles. Tech’s Laura Ozolins won the first set of the match with Ioana Paun in a tiebreaker, as she won the breaker by a 7-4 score and the set 7-6. Paun then came back to win the second set by a 6-3 count before Ozolins won the third set and the match for the Jackets, by picking up a 7-5 win.
In the semifinals, Tech will face top-seeded and fourth-ranked Duke, which defeated NC State by a 4-0 score. The match will begin at 10 a.m. and full tournament results are available at www.theacc.com.
#22GEORGIA TECH 4, #39 CLEMSON 3DOUBLES1. Miller/Wong (GT) d. Jayet/Lacelarie (C), 8-42. Morris/Grant (GT) d. Savitskaya/Dolinska (C), 8-53. Stanoycheva/LeSaldo (C) d. Koon/Gunn (GT), 8-5
SINGLES 1. Alix Lacelarie (C) d. Jaime Wong (GT), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) 2. Anna Savitskaya (C) d. Mysti Morris (GT), 7-5, 6-2 3. Catherine Gunn (GT) d. Ana Stiglic (C), 6-1, 6-2 4. Laurence Jayet (C) d. Mason Miller (GT), 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 5. Laura Ozolins (GT) d. Ioana Paun (C), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5 6. Sekita Grant (GT) d. Milena Stanoycheva (C), 7-5, 6-0
