The Jackets played in the Southern Shootout hosted by Georgia State on Sept. 21-23 in Piedmont Park.
It was the team’s first outing under new Head Coach Rodney Harmon, and Tech was able to kick off its fall season with wins from senior Elizabeth Kilborn, sophomores Alex Anghelescu and Jasmine Minor and freshmen Kendal Woodard and Natasha Prokhnevska.
“We had some good days. I think Friday and Saturday, we played extremely well. We started off well today, but didn’t finish as strong as I would’ve liked. All in all, it was a great event and it helps us get ready for the rest of the fall season,” Harmon said, courtesy of ramblinwreck.com.
Kilborn and Woodard faced off against South Florida’s Ecterina Vasenina and Loreto Alonso, a doubles pair ranked No. 24 in the nation, and came away with a hard-fought victory with a score of 8-6.
Kilborn also faced and defeated ranked opponents on Friday and Saturday during singles play. On Friday, the senior took down No. 29 Vasenina, rebounding from a first-set loss to win 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. The following day, she defeated No. 19 Joelle Kissell of N.C. State 6-2, 6-4.
Kilborn will be serving as an alternate in the qualifying draw in the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American tournament this weekend, Sept. 28-30, in Los Angeles.
“[Kilborn] has taken on the role of captain of this team, not just because she is a senior, but because of her work ethic and her willingness and desire to put in 100 percent effort not only on the court, but off with strength coach Scott McDonald. She’s a very talented player, she came out and played three really tough opponents and played beautifully each day and brought down two wins,” Harmon said.
Kilborn’s only loss came against Georgia State’s Abigail Tere-Apisah, ranked No. 23 in the nation, in a closely-fought match that ended with a score of 6-3, 7-5.
Anghelescu and Minor worked together to defeat the USF’s Paula Motoya and Kate Parker in a doubles match, and the pair completed the weekend undefeated with three wins for the season.
Prokhnevska notched her second victory of the season in a match against Georgia State’s Chaimaa Roudami in two sets with scores of 6-2 and 6-3.