Oct. 5, 2007
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif – Amanda McDowell and Maya Johansson continued their run in the singles bracket while Whitney McCray and Kristi Miller progressed in the doubles bracket on day two of the main draw at the ITA All-American Championships, which is being played at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
“It was another great day at the Riviera,” head coach Bryan Shelton said. “Maya won back-to-back again today, and has now won nine-straight matches in this tournament. I thought it was great that she was the only freshman to make it to the main draw, but she’s playing with heart on the court and is leaving everything she has out there.
“Amanda’s match was amazing. To win like she did under the lights was unbelievable.
“I’ve told them both that they’ve gotten this far, and now they have to bring home the hardware. I know that they can do it.”
McDowell and Johansson will join Clemson’s Ani Mijacika and Cal’s Suzi Babos in the semifinals of the singles tournament, with McDowell and Babos squaring off while Johansson meets Mijacika Saturday afternoon. Babos is the only remaining seeded singles player in the tournament after five of the top eight seeds fell in the first round and another two were defeated Friday afternoon.
Johansson knocked off Baylor’s Lenka Broosova, 6-2, 6-4, to begin the day before winning 12 of her last 14 games against UCLA’s Riza Zalameda in the quarterfinals to win 3-6, 6-0, 6-2. With her two singles wins Friday, the Yellow Jacket freshman moved to 12-0 on the season.
McDowell squared off against Florida’s Csilla Borsanyi in the round of 16, winning in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to set up a quarterfinal match with Miami’s Laura Vallverdu in the afternoon. After dropping a hard-fought first set to the Miami standout, the Yellow Jacket sophomore won her second set, 7-5, before battling for an 11-9 tiebreaker victory in the third and final set to win 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (9).
Earlier in the day, Tech’s senior duo of Miller and McCray stopped the Northwestern tandem of Lauren Liu and Samantha Murray, 8-6, to continue their run in the doubles tournament. The Yellow Jackets will face LSU’s Megan Falcon and Hannah Robinson in the semifinals Saturday morning.
After falling in her first round match Thursday, Miller posted a straight-set singles win against UCLA’s Tracy Lin to advance to the semifinals of the consolation bracket, which will be played Saturday at 10 a.m. PT.
Saturday’s matches will be broadcast live at www.RadioTennis.com with Ken Thomas providing the point-by-point commentary starting at 10 am PT.
Finals for both the doubles and singles brackets will be played Sunday.
The Oct.4-7 main draw of the ITA All-American Championships was preceded by two sets of qualifying tournaments. The 64-player, 32 doubles team prequalifying tournament was held last weekend, with eight players and four doubles teams advancing from there to the Oct. 2-3 64-player qualifying tournament at Riviera (where eight players and four doubles teams advanced to the main draw).
The famous Riviera Tennis Club has played host to this event since 1988 (it also hosted an intercollegiate women’s championship from 1986-88).
For more information on the 2007 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, go to: http://itatennis.com/Riviera07/main.htm.
(R32) Amanda McDowell (GT) def. No. 7 Georgia Rose (Northwestern), 6-3, 6-0 (R16) McDowell (GT) def. Csilla Borsanyi (Florida), 6-3, 6-3 (QF) McDowell (GT) def. Laura Vallverdu (Miami), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (9)
(R32) Yasmin Schnack (UCLA) def. No. 5 Kristi Miller (GT), 6-4, 6-2 (CR16) Miller (GT) received bye (CQF) Miller (GT) def. Tracy Lin (UCLA), 7-6 (3), 6-4
(R32) Maya Johansson (GT) def. No. 8 Celia Durkin (Stanford), 6-4, 5-4, ret. (R16) Johansson (GT) def. Lenka Broosova (Baylor), 6-2, 6-4 (QF) Johansson (GT) def. Riza Zalameda (UCLA), 3-6, 6-0, 6-2
(R32) Whitney McCray (GT) def. Ela Kaluder (Arkansas), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 (R16) Ani Mijacika (Clemson) def. McCray (GT), 6-2, 6-0
(R16) No. 3 Miller/McCray (GT) def. Sylvia Kosakowski/Bianca Dulgheru (Pepperdine), 8-5 (QF) No. 3 Miller/McCray (GT) def. Lauren Liu/Samantha Murray (Northwestern), 8-6
