University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
ITA Regionals
Bulldogs Roll in ITA Regionals
October 21, 2016 | Women's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. ----Four members of the University of Georgia women's tennis team - Eleni Christofi, Marta Gonzalez, Mariana Gould and Kennedy Shaffer - won their first round of main draw singles matches Friday at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Southeast Regional Championships in Gainesville, Fla.
In addition, the two Georgia doubles teams each picked up two wins to advance to the quarterfinals.
"I thought our doubles really played well today in both our matches," said Georgia Head Coach Jeff Wallace. "I think our teams learned a lot and certainly applied some the things we have been doing in practice so I was really happy about that."
In singles, Georgia juniors Shaffer and Gould won their matchups as No. 14 ranked Shaffer defeated University of South Florida's junior Juliana Cardoso 6-4,6-4 and Gould outlasted junior Monica Matias of University of Central Florida 7-6,6-3.
The Bulldogs' freshmen, Christofi and Gonzalez, continued their impressive starts to their collegiate careers as Christofi finished off USF junior Jessica Cortes Chaves with an overhead shot to win 6-1,6-1 and Gonzalez put away senior Michelle Valdez of University of North Florida 6-3, 6-1. Gonzalez is a perfect 7-0 this season, while Christofi has a 5-1 slate. The losses by the Cortes Chaves and Valdez marked the second consecutive year that they were eliminated in the first round of the ITA Southeast Regional Championships by a Georgia player as Cortes Chaves bowed out versus Gould due to an injury and Valdez was defeated by former Bulldog Silvia Garcia.
Caroline Brinson, the defending tournament champion, fell in a tough three-set battle 7-6(4),4-6,5-7 to Andrea Lazaro of Florida International University. The senior will compete against Olga Martinez of USF in the singles backdraw on Saturday.
"In singles, we almost had a perfect day but we lost a tough heart breaker 7-5 in the third in the last match of the day," said Wallace. "It was a well played matched and we had our opportunities. I thought everyone else played some really good singles. So I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
The day started with two rounds of doubles in which each Bulldog team swept in order to reach the quarterfinals.
The Bulldogs' tandem of Christofi and Shaffer came out firing as they only dropped one game in their two matches. In the first round, the Georgia duo defeated University of Miami's pair Silvia Fuentes and Clara Tanielian 8-1, then smoked Andrea Lazaro and Nina Nagode of FIU in straight games 8-0. The two matches marked the first time the Bulldog duo have been paired together.
Georgia's Gonzalez and Gould, ranked 30th, teamed up to outlast Georgia State's tandem of sophomore Daniela Ramirez and senior Tarani Kamoe in a drag out contest featuring a tiebreaker 8-7 (7-5). In the next matchup, Gonzalez/Gould beat Florida State University's twosome of sophomore Ariana Rahmanparast and freshman Andrea Garcia 8-5. Gonzalez and Gould are now 3-0 playing together as they notched a win in the Bulldog Classic on Sept. 24 versus two different GSU opponents.
In the quarterfinals, Christofi/Shaffer will face No. 35 Paige Hourigan and Rasheeda McAdoo of Georgia Tech, while Gonzalez/Gould square off against University of Florida's Kourtney Keegan and Peggy Porter Saturday at 8:30.
On the main draw singles side; there will be two rounds played on Saturday. The second round matchups consist of Christofi vs. Breana Stampfli of Florida Gulf Coast University, Gould vs. Sara Culbertson of UM, Shaffer vs. Muminovic of GSU, and Gonzalez vs. No. 117 Ana Madcur of UM.
"It is going to be great matches, all these matches tomorrow," Wallace added. "We play Georgia Tech in doubles, we play Florida in doubles. This is the strongest region in the country so you got to expect Day Two of Regionals is going to have great matches. So yeah we're looking forward to it."
