The women’s team came out strong this Saturday against the Bulldogs, taking a 3-0 lead, but then fell as Georgia was able to rally back with a 4-3 victory.
Sophomore Amanda McDowell was out again this week, so the team had to replace her play.
The team took the first two doubles matches to claim a 1-0 lead going into singles play. Junior Christy Striplin and freshman Noelle Hickey were the first team to win in doubles play, posting an 8-3 score over Georgia’s Cameron Ellis and Adrienne Elsberry.
The next doubles match to finish came from over on court No. 1 where Tech’s senior Kristi Miller and sophomore Kristin Flower weren’t able to overtake Kelley Hyndman and Monika Dancevic. Miller and Flower were not consistent and lost 8-4, tying the doubles score up at 1-1.
Tech sealed the team lead of 1-0 after senior Whitney McCray and freshman Sasha Krupina pulled out a close match over Yvette Hyndman and Naoko Ueshima. McCray and Krupina were able to come from behind at 7-5 to win it 9-7.
The team’s momentum from doubles carried over into the first couple matches in singles. Freshman Maya Johansson prepared herself for the match after the doubles match. Johansson finished first over Elsberry 6-1, 6-4 to bring Tech’s lead to 2-0.
Shortly after, on court No. 1, Miller took the match over Kelley Hyndman 6-1, 6-2 to give Tech its last win and up the score to 3-0. Miller’s win was uncontested and her confidence contributed to the dominant victory.
Hickey had trouble overtaking her opponent, Ellis, as she dropped her match 6-3, 6-4 to put Georgia on the board 3-1. Frustration started to show in Tech after Striplin’s match when she lost to Ueshima 6-3, 6-1. When the score became 3-2, the play on court No. 2 and 3 suddenly became more important.
McCray had a rough start in her match, losing her first set 6-1 and was down early in the second against Yvette Hyndman. But after Striplin’s match ended, McCray picked it up, knowing that it had to be up to her or Flower to get the winning point to take the match.
McCray came back in the second set to win it 7-6 (7-2). McCray wasn’t able to hold on in the tiebreak set (6-2) as Hyndman took their game and the match score became tied at 3-3.
The final match was on court No. 3 between Flower and Dancevic. They split sets 5-7, 6-3, and had to go into the third tiebreak set to determine both the individual and team match winner. The set was close (7-5), but ended up in Dancevic’s hands and gave Georgia the win 4-3.