Spring Break
Women's tennis team steamrolls Georgia Tech
MANIK K. GUPTA
Issue date: 3/20/09 Section: Sports
The Georgia women's tennis team won't have to worry about their arch-nemesis Georgia Tech ordering celebratory rings commemorating a victory in Athens anytime soon.
The No. 3 Bulldogs (13-2) topped the Yellow Jackets (8-5) 6-1 Thursday to improve their series record to 18-3 overall against their rivals from Atlanta. Chelsey Gullickson notched her third career clinch for Georgia upsetting fellow freshman, Tech's seventh-ranked Irina Falconi 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. The win gives the ninth-ranked freshman an impressive 17 wins over ranked opponents this season.
But, it wasn't Gullickson's play alone that was responsible for the annihilation of Tech. Instead, the Bulldogs relied on strong efforts from all members of the team to hand the Yellow Jackets their worst loss to Georgia since the 2001 dual match season.
"I'm really proud of this team today. Great effort out here today," Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. "And, can't say enough about the crowd. The crowd was giving us lifts and boosts throughout the whole match."
The Bulldogs had to weather an emotional roller coaster to secure the coveted doubles point. After Cameron Ellis and Naoko Ueshima teamed up to beat Amanda McDowell and Viet Ha Ngo 8-4 and Yvette Hyndman and Monika Dancevic lost to Falconi and Sasha Krupina 8-5, the doubles point rested on the rackets of the freshmen duo of Gullickson and Nadja Gilchrist.
Although Georgia led at one point 3-0 in the match, Tech's No. 20 ranked team of Christy Striplin and Noelle Hickey fought back to take a 5-3 advantage. But, Gilchrist and Gullickson wouldn't quit.
Facing a 7-5 deficit, they stormed back in thrilling fashion to clinch the doubles point behind the support of the largest crowd of the dual match season.
"Today was about coming back. We had to come back to get that doubles point," Wallace said. "We really played great tennis at the end and came back and won that. The crowd was awesome and [getting the doubles point] really helped us."
The No. 3 Bulldogs (13-2) topped the Yellow Jackets (8-5) 6-1 Thursday to improve their series record to 18-3 overall against their rivals from Atlanta. Chelsey Gullickson notched her third career clinch for Georgia upsetting fellow freshman, Tech's seventh-ranked Irina Falconi 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. The win gives the ninth-ranked freshman an impressive 17 wins over ranked opponents this season.
But, it wasn't Gullickson's play alone that was responsible for the annihilation of Tech. Instead, the Bulldogs relied on strong efforts from all members of the team to hand the Yellow Jackets their worst loss to Georgia since the 2001 dual match season.
"I'm really proud of this team today. Great effort out here today," Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. "And, can't say enough about the crowd. The crowd was giving us lifts and boosts throughout the whole match."
The Bulldogs had to weather an emotional roller coaster to secure the coveted doubles point. After Cameron Ellis and Naoko Ueshima teamed up to beat Amanda McDowell and Viet Ha Ngo 8-4 and Yvette Hyndman and Monika Dancevic lost to Falconi and Sasha Krupina 8-5, the doubles point rested on the rackets of the freshmen duo of Gullickson and Nadja Gilchrist.
Although Georgia led at one point 3-0 in the match, Tech's No. 20 ranked team of Christy Striplin and Noelle Hickey fought back to take a 5-3 advantage. But, Gilchrist and Gullickson wouldn't quit.
Facing a 7-5 deficit, they stormed back in thrilling fashion to clinch the doubles point behind the support of the largest crowd of the dual match season.
"Today was about coming back. We had to come back to get that doubles point," Wallace said. "We really played great tennis at the end and came back and won that. The crowd was awesome and [getting the doubles point] really helped us."
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