University of Georgia Athletics
Auburn Stuns Top-Ranked Bulldogs
March 24, 2007 | Women's Tennis
AUBURN, Ala. – The top-ranked Georgia women’s tennis team dropped its first match of the season Friday to No. 41 Auburn, 4-3, at the Luther Young Tennis Complex.
The Bulldogs, who were without the services of sixth-ranked Natalie Frazier in singles, dropped the doubles point to open the match for only the second time this season and then could not find enough weapons to recover in singles action.
“We needed to play a lot better in doubles than we did today,” Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. “We were without Natalie in singles, and then Auburn just played a great match against us. They out-played us today and came out with the win. We have a lot of work to do.”
The Bulldogs drop to 12-1 (4-1 Southeastern Conference) with the loss, while Auburn improves to 9-4 (3-2 SEC) with the win. It marks the first time Auburn has beaten Georgia since 1996 and only the sixth time in program history.
After Auburn took the early 1-0 lead from a doubles victory, Georgia clawed back to take a 2-1 advantage with quick straight-sets wins from Darya Ivanov and Naoko Ueshima. The Bulldogs extended the lead to 3-1 with two tiebreaker victories from Yvette Hyndman, who remains perfect in dual matches with the win.
However, the three remaining matches went to Auburn. The clincher was between Georgia freshman Lara Fakhoury and Auburn freshman Jil Hastenrath. Fakhoury took a 3-1 lead, but Hastenrath recorded wins in the next five games to clinch the match for her team.
Georgia returns to Athens to take on Alabama on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Match Results
#41 Auburn University 4, #1 Georgia 3
Singles competition
1. #30 Fani Chifchieva (AUB) def. #36 Monika Dancevic (UGA) 3-6, 7-5, 4-2
2. #58 Yvette Hyndman (UGA) def. Melissa Koning (AUB) 7-6, 7-6
3. Alex Haney (AUB) def. Kelley Hyndman (UGA) 6-3, 6-1, 4-6
4. #78 Darya Ivanov (UGA) def. Whitney Chappel (AUB) 6-2, 6-1
5. Jil Hastenrath (AUB) def. Lara Fakhoury (UGA) 7-6, 5-7, 6-3
Naoko Ueshima (UGA) def. Kelly Adams (AUB) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #16 Alex Haney/Melissa Koning (AUB) def. #14 Yvette Hyndman/Darya Ivanov (UGA) 8-2
2. #30 Monika Dancevic/Kelley Hyndman (UGA) def. Whitney Chappel/Fani Chifchieva (AUB) 8-6
3. Jil Hastenrath/Kelly Adams (AUB) def. Natalie Frazier/Naoko Ueshima (UGA) 8-6
Match Notes:
Georgia 12-1 (4-1 SEC); National ranking #1
Auburn University 9-4 (3-2 SEC); National ranking #41
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (4,6,2,3,1,5)
T-5:03
The University of Georgia will play host to the 2007 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships, May 17-28. For ticket and tournament information, please visit the NCAA Tournament Information Center on georgiadogs.com. |
