ATHENS, Ga. – Four Yellow Jackets competed on day one of the ITA Sectional Championships on Thursday at the University of Georgia. The elite tournament that serves as direct qualification into the NCAA Individual Championships, featured two rounds of singles play and the opening round of doubles action at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Play began in the morning with the doubles round of 16. Tech featured two doubles teams in the highly-competitive tournament. Coming off a quarterfinal run at the ITA Southeast Regionals, Tech’s duo of Given Roach and Alejandra Cruz continued their strong fall with a straight-set win over Lara Schneider and Nicole Teodosescu of Indiana. After dominating the first set, 6-0, Cruz and Roach battled to a tiebreak in the second set, pulling out the win, 6-0, 7-6 (4), to advance to the quarterfinals on Friday.
Also competing in doubles action, Kate Sharabura and Scarlett Nicholson dropped a competitive match to Xavier’s Elizabeth Pendergast and Emily Flowers, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Two rounds of singles action followed doubles in the afternoon. Nicholson was victorious in the opening round of 32, but couldn’t sustain the momentum in the round of 16. In the opening round of main draw action, Nicholson handled Tulane’s Summer Chandler in two sets, 6-1, 6-3, but fell in round of 16 action, 6-1, 6-2, to Catherine Aulia of Tennessee.
Cruz and Sharabura also represented the Yellow Jackets in singles play. Cruz fell in a 6-3, 6-2 decision to Vanesa Suarez (Tennessee), while Sharabura dropped a hard-fought battle to Julia Zhu of Kentucky. Sharabura took the first set, 6-3, but Zhu rallied back to claim the match in three sets, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Action continues on Friday with the doubles quarterfinals for the Yellow Jackets and consolation singles action. Play begins at 9 a.m.
RESULTS
Singles
R32: Julia Zhu (Kentucky) def. Kate Sharabura (GT) 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2
R32: Vanesa Suarez (Tennessee) def. Alejandra Cruz (GT) 6-3, 6-2
R32: Scarlett Nicholson (GT) def. Summer Chandler (Tulane) 6-1, 6-3
R16: Catherine Aulia (Tennessee) def. Scarlett Nicholson (GT) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
R16: Elizabeth Pendergast/Emily Flowers (Xavier) def. Kate Sharabura/Scarlett Nicholson (GT) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
R16: Given Roach/Alejandra Cruz (GT) def. Lara Schneider/Nicole Teodosescu (Indiana) 6-0, 7-6 (7-4)
Sunday Schedule of Play
DQF: Alejandra Cruz/Given Roach (GT) vs. Leyla Britez/Vanesa Suarez (Tennessee)
C-DQF: Kate Sharabura/Scarlett Nicholson (GT) vs. Leigh Van Zyl/Campbell Ricci (Tulane)
C-R16: Kate Sharabura (GT) vs. Rachel Krzyzak (Mississippi)
C-R16: Alejandra Cruz (GT) vs. Sophia Biolay (UCF)
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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