Sunday, February 10
Seattle
1 p.m.
University of Georgia
4
vs
3
Vanderbilt
No. 5 Bulldogs Rally Past No. 2 Vanderbilt
February 10, 2019 | Women's Tennis
SEATTLE-----Fifth-ranked Georgia completed a thrilling comeback to beat second-ranked Vanderbilt 4-3 Sunday and advance to the semifinals of the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships.
The Bulldogs (5-0) never led in the match until freshman Lourdes Carle outlasted Georgia Drummy in three sets to clinch the victory at No. 3 singles. In fact, all four of Georgia's team points came in three sets after it fell behind 1-0 after doubles and then faced deficits of 2-1 and 3-2 during singles. Down 3-2 in the team match, junior Elena Christofi kept Georgia alive with an epic comeback at No. 5 singles as she trailed 5-0 in the third set and fought off two match-match points to rally past No. 65 Emily Smith, 6-4,3-6,7-5. Vanderbilt dropped to 4-2 on the year.
"We won a lot of third set matches today, and it was super exciting out there," said Georgia coach Jeff Wallace. "This was our biggest test so far, and we knew anybody you play out here is going to be really good, and it's going to be a battle. It takes a lot of maturity and discipline to hang in there like Elena did after getting down 5-0 and fighting back. Katarina (Jokic) got us on the board at No. 1 with a big win in a matchup of two of the best players in the country and then two freshmen came through in Meg (Kowalski) and Lourdes."
In singles, the teams split the first set on the six courts as Carle, Vivian Wolff and Christofi took an early lead in their matches at No. 3, 4 and 5. Carle saved three match points in a tiebreaker versus Drummy to take the first set 10-8. In the meantime at Nos. 1 and 6, Jokic and Kowalski came back to force a third set in their matches. Vanderbilt went up 2-0 when 12th-ranked Christina Rosca edged 10th-ranked Marta Gonzales 6-2,7-6(5).
Then, Jokic, ranked No. 2, beat third-ranked Fernanda Contreras 4-6,6-1,6-2 in the No. 1 contest. Kowalski improved to 9-0 with a 2-6,6-3,6-2 victory over Carolyn Campana at No. 6 to even the match at 2-all. However, the Commodores went up 3-2 when No. 31 Amanda Meyer snapped No. 58 Wolff's eight-match winning streak with a 4-6,7-5,6-3 decision at No. 4. Christofi's win evened the match to set the stage for Carle who would win 7-6(8),4-6,6-2 over Drummy.
In doubles to start the match, Wallace said Vanderbilt was able to build a big, early lead to claim the first team point. At No. 2, Christofi and Morgan Coppoc fell behind 5-1 and then rallied back to close the gap to 5-4 before falling 6-4 to the duo of Rosca and Drummy. In the No. 1 match, Wolff and Carle nearly overcame a huge deficit as they trailed Contreras and Smith 5-2. Then, they saved four match points and knotted the contest at 5-all. However, the Commodores recovered to take the next two games for a 7-5 win and the doubles point for a 1-0 advantage. The No. 3 contest was halted with the Commodore duo of Emma Kurtz and Summer Dvorak leading 6-5 over Jokic and Kowalski.
Georgia opened the tournament with a 4-2 win over No. 14 N.C. State on Friday and then Saturday's schedule was postponed due to heavy snowfall in the Seattle area. Up next, the Bulldogs face defending NCAA champion and 2018 indoor runner-up No. 1 Stanford on Monday.
The match time is TBA.
Live scoring will be supplied by Tennis-Ticker ScoreBoard, http://www.gado.gs/1cu, while live streaming will be on UW's website, http://www.gado.gs/1d1. The event homepage came be found here: http://www.gado.gs/1cg.
For the latest on Georgia women's tennis, follow the team on Twitter (@UGAWomensTennis), Instagram (@ugawomenstennis) and on Facebook (UGA Women's Tennis).
The Bulldogs (5-0) never led in the match until freshman Lourdes Carle outlasted Georgia Drummy in three sets to clinch the victory at No. 3 singles. In fact, all four of Georgia's team points came in three sets after it fell behind 1-0 after doubles and then faced deficits of 2-1 and 3-2 during singles. Down 3-2 in the team match, junior Elena Christofi kept Georgia alive with an epic comeback at No. 5 singles as she trailed 5-0 in the third set and fought off two match-match points to rally past No. 65 Emily Smith, 6-4,3-6,7-5. Vanderbilt dropped to 4-2 on the year.
"We won a lot of third set matches today, and it was super exciting out there," said Georgia coach Jeff Wallace. "This was our biggest test so far, and we knew anybody you play out here is going to be really good, and it's going to be a battle. It takes a lot of maturity and discipline to hang in there like Elena did after getting down 5-0 and fighting back. Katarina (Jokic) got us on the board at No. 1 with a big win in a matchup of two of the best players in the country and then two freshmen came through in Meg (Kowalski) and Lourdes."
In singles, the teams split the first set on the six courts as Carle, Vivian Wolff and Christofi took an early lead in their matches at No. 3, 4 and 5. Carle saved three match points in a tiebreaker versus Drummy to take the first set 10-8. In the meantime at Nos. 1 and 6, Jokic and Kowalski came back to force a third set in their matches. Vanderbilt went up 2-0 when 12th-ranked Christina Rosca edged 10th-ranked Marta Gonzales 6-2,7-6(5).
Then, Jokic, ranked No. 2, beat third-ranked Fernanda Contreras 4-6,6-1,6-2 in the No. 1 contest. Kowalski improved to 9-0 with a 2-6,6-3,6-2 victory over Carolyn Campana at No. 6 to even the match at 2-all. However, the Commodores went up 3-2 when No. 31 Amanda Meyer snapped No. 58 Wolff's eight-match winning streak with a 4-6,7-5,6-3 decision at No. 4. Christofi's win evened the match to set the stage for Carle who would win 7-6(8),4-6,6-2 over Drummy.
In doubles to start the match, Wallace said Vanderbilt was able to build a big, early lead to claim the first team point. At No. 2, Christofi and Morgan Coppoc fell behind 5-1 and then rallied back to close the gap to 5-4 before falling 6-4 to the duo of Rosca and Drummy. In the No. 1 match, Wolff and Carle nearly overcame a huge deficit as they trailed Contreras and Smith 5-2. Then, they saved four match points and knotted the contest at 5-all. However, the Commodores recovered to take the next two games for a 7-5 win and the doubles point for a 1-0 advantage. The No. 3 contest was halted with the Commodore duo of Emma Kurtz and Summer Dvorak leading 6-5 over Jokic and Kowalski.
Georgia opened the tournament with a 4-2 win over No. 14 N.C. State on Friday and then Saturday's schedule was postponed due to heavy snowfall in the Seattle area. Up next, the Bulldogs face defending NCAA champion and 2018 indoor runner-up No. 1 Stanford on Monday.
The match time is TBA.
Live scoring will be supplied by Tennis-Ticker ScoreBoard, http://www.gado.gs/1cu, while live streaming will be on UW's website, http://www.gado.gs/1d1. The event homepage came be found here: http://www.gado.gs/1cg.
For the latest on Georgia women's tennis, follow the team on Twitter (@UGAWomensTennis), Instagram (@ugawomenstennis) and on Facebook (UGA Women's Tennis).
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