Oct. 8, 2006
WACO, Tex. – Amanda Craddock, Christy Striplin and Whitney McCray all won titles at the 2006 Rice Invitational, which concluded Sunday at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the campus of Rice University. The three-day tournament began Friday with the Jackets winning 10 of 10 matches (eight singles, two doubles) and concluded with Georgia Tech earning a total of 14 (of 16) singles and seven (of eight) doubles victories in the tournament.
“Overall, I think it was a great weekend for us,” said Georgia Tech head coach Bryan Shelton. “It was nice to have the two freshmen get off to such a strong start, as well as Whit and Christy. They all represented us very well in their first tournament this year, and it was a positive start for us. We still have work to do before we head to regionals, but we are looking forward to that trip to Alabama in the next month.”
Craddock swept through the blue draw singles bracket, concluding with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win over SMU’s Natalia Bubien Sunday morning. The Yellow Jacket rookie was originally scheduled to face her own teammate, Amanda McDowell, in the final, but the two instead squared off against each others’ semifinal opponent on Sunday.
McDowell dropped her first singles match of the tournament, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, after winning three-straight to start the competition.
Striplin captured the gray draw singles championship Sunday morning with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Rice’s Rebecca Lin, while McCray, who lost to Lin in the semis, won her final match of the weekend, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, against Baylor’s Jana Bielikova.
Craddock and McCray teamed together to play for the championship of the blue draw doubles championship, and the Yellow Jacket duo won, 8-4, against Illinois’ duo of Finnegan and Fudge to earn their first doubles title of the season.
Striplin and McDowell faced the Baylor duo of Mihaylova and Chmelarova in the consolations Sunday, dropping the Bear pair, 8-5.
Rice Invitational Results
Singles
(R1) Amanda McDowell (GT) def. Zuzana Chmelarova (BU), 6-2, 7-5
(R1) Amanda Craddock (GT) def. Kalei Gora (Lee), 6-1, 6-1
(R1) Whitney McCray (GT) def. Melissa Guerrier (PVAM), 6-1, 6-0
(R1) Christy Striplin (GT) def. Monika Drabkova (UTSA), 6-0, 6-0
(QF) McDowell (GT) def. Julie Chao (Rice), 7-5, 6-2
(QF) Craddock (GT) def. Christine Dao (Rice), 6-3, 6-1
(QF) McCray (GT) def. Alejandra Mezcuadra (UI), 6-1, 6-2
(QF) Striplin (GT) def. Momei Qu (UI), 6-7, 6-1, 6-2
(SF) McDowell (GT) def. Natalia Bubien (SMU), 6-3, 6-4
(SF) Craddock (GT) def. Iva Mihaylova (BU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
(SF) Striplin (GT) def. Jana Bielikova (BU), 7-5, 6-1
(SF) Rebecca Lin (Rice) def. McCray (GT), 6-4, 7-5
(F) Striplin (GT) def. Lin (Rice), 6-4, 6-2
(F) Craddock (GT) def. Bubien (SMU), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
(F) Mihaylova (BU) def. McDowell (GT) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
(CON) McCray (GT) def. Bielikova (BU), 6-1, 5-7, 6-1
Doubles
(R1) McCray/Craddock (GT) def. Kukla/Wallin (UTSA), 8-0
(R1) Striplin/McDowell (GT) def. Qu/Minor (UI), 8-2
(QF) McCray/Craddock (GT) def. Chay/Marta (SMU), 8-0
(QF) Scida/Hasking (UTSA) def. Striplin/McDowell (GT), 8-6
(SF) McCray/Craddock (GT) def. Chao/Lee (Rice), 9-8 (4)
(CON) Striplin/McDowell (GT) def. Dao/Braid (Rice), 8-4
(CON) Striplin/McDowell (GT) def. Mihaylova/Chmelarova (BU), 8-5
(F) McCray/Craddock (GT) def. Finnegan/Fudge (UI), 8-4
