Feb. 11, 2008

No. 4 Georgia Tech Wins ITA National Team Indoor Title

MADISON, Wis. - Yellow Jacket sophomore Kirsten Flower battled back from a four-game deficit in her second set to pull off a 6-4, 7-6 (5) upset victory over No. 99 Lauren Lui to clinch No. 4 Georgia Tech's 4-2 victory over No. 3 Northwestern in the ITA National Team Indoor championship match Sunday afternoon. The ITA National Team Indoor title is the Yellow Jackets' second in as many years, after Tech knocked off Notre Dame for the title in 2007.

"Kirsten really steadied her nerves as the day went along," said head coach Bryan Shelton. "It started in doubles coming down to their match after Noelle (Hickey) and Christy (Striplin) came out firing. Kirsten and Kristi (Miller) had a 6-4 lead in their set and were up 40-0, but ended up losing. The two of them then battled back to break, going up 7-5, which was huge for us.

"Last weekend we were up in all three doubles matches and ended up losing two of the three, so this week we focused on finishing it off. Getting the doubles point really gave us the momentum that we needed going into singles."

The Yellow Jackets have lost just once in their last 28 matches, falling 6-1 to Northwestern last weekend in Atlanta. Tech has played its best tennis, however, in title matches, having never lost on six occasions (three ACC Championships, two ITA National Team Indoor Championship, one NCAA Title).

Cavaliers Win ACC Opener Over Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia women's tennis team opened its 2008 ACC schedule Sunday afternoon with a 4-3 win over intrastate rival Virginia Tech at the Burrows/Burleson Tennis Center. The Cavaliers improve to 2-3 overall, 1-0 in the ACC, with the victory while the Hokies fall to 5-2 overall, 0-1 in the conference.

The Cavaliers took the early lead by sweeping all three doubles matches. Maggie Yahner (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Lindsey Pereira (Arlington, Texas) scored an 8-2 win over Inga Beermann and JJ Larson at No. 2 doubles. Jennifer Stevens (Miami, Fla.) and Hampton Williams (Raleigh, N.C.) clinched the opening point for Virginia with their 8-4 win over Jessica Long and Holly Johnson at the No. 3 position. Amanda Rales (Bethesda, Md.) and Lara Alexander (London, England) completed the sweep with their 8-4 win at No. 1 over Jessica Brouwer and Yasmin Hamza.

In singles, the Cavaliers won three contests in straight sets to clinch the dual match. Yahner defeated Brouwer 6-4, 6-0 at No. 4 singles. Rales followed with her 7-5, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles over Beermann. Alexander clinched the win at No. 5 singles as she defeated Abbey Walker 6-2, 6-3. The Hokies took the other three singles matches, two of which went to a third-set superbreaker.

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No. 22 FSU Women's Tennis Pushes Unbeaten Streak to 50 With JU Win

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - If a 6-0 team record doesn't say enough about the power of FSU's No. 22-ranked women's tennis squad, winning 50 matches in a row to start the season certainly does. With nine more victories in singles and doubles against Jacksonville University today, Feb. 10, the Seminoles pro-longed their record of perfection, which stands as the best spring season start in program history.

"Going 50-0 in the first six dual matches is a pretty incredible feat," said head coach Jennifer Hyde. "We haven't had anyone even slip up and miss a point, which is very impressive. The team has some very specific things they want to accomplish this season and their resolve to do that is impressive. I think it shows in how they've performed in the last 50 matches."

In the 27-year history of FSU women's tennis, no team has ever had such a powerful start to the season. The 2003 and 2004 squads both started with three 7-0 victories, but they pale in comparison to the five dominant 7-0 victories, plus a 6-0 win over Florida A&M yesterday that the Seminoles have posted to start 2008.

Terps Fall to Princeton, 4-3

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland women's tennis team fell to Princeton Sunday afternoon, 4-3, at the Tennis Center at College Park. The team won one doubles match and three singles matches in the loss.

The Terrapins fell to 1-3 on the season, while the Tigers moved to 4-1 on the year.

Sophomore Lisa Miller and freshman Adela Matejkova won their doubles match over Sarah Huah and Sarah Hoffman, 8-0. Junior captain Michal Amir and freshman Karin Lundmark lost their doubles match to Ivana King and Rebecca Parks, 8-3, and sophomore Maggie MacKeever and freshman Julia Huschke lost to Melissa Saiontz and Taylor Marable, 8-6.

Amir defeated Saiontz at the No. 1 singles slot, 6-3, 7-5. Huschke beat Huah at the No. 3 position, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, and MacKeever won a close match over Hoffman, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3, at the No. 4 position.

Lundmark lost to King, 6-3, 6-0, at the No. 2 spot. At the No. 5 position, Miller dropped her match to Parks, 6-3, 6-3, and freshman Oksana Krutiyenko lost to Marable, 6-2, 6-2, at the No. 6 position.

Boston College 5, St. John's 2

More to follow...