Georgia Tech Three-Peats as ACC Women's Tennis Champion

April 22, 2007

CARY, N.C. - Georgia Tech claimed the 2007 ACC Women's Tennis Championship title for the third straight year, denying No. 4 seed Miami a shot at the league crown with a 4-1 victory at Cary Tennis Park on Sunday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets also received the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The two teams have faced each other in the championship title match the last three years with the Yellow Jackets having won all three meetings.

Miami picked up the first doubles win, as Audra Cohen and Laura Vallverdu defeated Georgia Tech's Kristi Miller and Whitney McCray 8-6 at the top position. The Yellow Jackets tied things up after Amanda Craddock and Alison Silverio handed Caren Seenauth and Romy Farah an 8-6 loss at No. 2. The Hurricanes would grab the doubles point and a 1-0 lead, as Audrey Banada and Gina Sabatino notched an 8-2 win over Tarryn Rudman and Kirsten Flower.

In singles action, the Yellow Jackets quickly took care of business as Craddock and Amanda McDowell won their respective singles matches in straight sets. One of the biggest victories of the day came at No. 1 singles when Kristi Miller upset ACC Player of the Year Cohen, 7-5, 6-2.

Tech's Christy Striplin came through for the Yellow Jackets at No. 5 singles. After dropping the first set to Miami's Seenauth, Striplin fought back to win the last two sets and clinched the overall team match point for Tech as the Yellow Jackets won, 4-1.

Georgia Tech's Craddock, a freshman from St. Louis, Mo., was named the tournament's most valuable player after finishing 2-0 in both singles and doubles action.

The Yellow Jackets and the rest of ACC women's tennis will be awaiting their fate in the NCAA Tournament. Team selections for the national event will be announced Tuesday, May 1, between 2:30-3 p.m. on ESPNews, while the NCAA will release the individual selections on its web site (www.ncaasports.com) Wednesday, May 2, at 5 p.m.

First and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament takes place May 11-12 and held at different campus sites to be determined when team selections are announced.

Finals for both team and individual competition will be hosted by the University of Georgia at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., on May 17-28.