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Monday, February 11
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#5 Bulldogs Defeat Top-Ranked Stanford to Reach ITA Indoor Championship
February 11, 2019 | Women's Tennis
#5 Bulldogs Defeat Top-Ranked Stanford to Reach ITA Indoor Championship
SEATTLE, Wash. – The fifth-ranked Georgia women's tennis team outlasted the No. 1-ranked Stanford Cardinal, 4-3, Monday afternoon to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
With the team score tied at 3-all, everything hinged on court one where Georgia sophomore Katarina Jokic, ranked No. 2 in ITA singles, was battling Stanford's No. 23 Michaela Gordon in the third set. Jokic broke Gordon's serve to take a 4-3 lead, and then four-straight points on serve gave Jokic a commanding 5-3 advantage. To seal the match, Jokic broke Gordon's serve once more for the 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 win.
The trip to the ITA Team Indoors Championship marks the eighth in Georgia history. The Bulldogs won in 1994, '95, and '02, while finishing runner-up in 2001, '04, '09, and '15. Georgia (6-0) will face the winner of the other semifinal between No. 3 North Carolina and No. 4 Duke on Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET in the Lloyd Nordstrom Tennis Center.
Stanford, the reigning 2018 NCAA Champion, falls to 5-1 on the season. The Cardinal bounced the Bulldogs out of the 2018 NCAA Championships in the elite eight en route to their championship. The last time Georgia dethroned a No. 1-ranked team was when the Bulldogs beat Florida on March 17, 2017 in Gainesville, Fla.
"She [Jokic] really locked down that second set, winning 6-1, which really turned the match around completely and gave her a lot of momentum going into the third set," Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. "She was up in the first game but had to play deuce point and broke a string, and although she played a great point, she ended up losing it. She came right back around and handled that well though. She played a clean third set. She really locked it down and played some smart tennis and stuck to the game plan. It was a very exciting win."
Prior to Jokic's clincher, Georgia received singles wins from freshman Meg Kowalski, sophomore Vivian Wolff, and junior Marta Gonzalez.
"At the end of these matches, it is easy to forget about the earlier finished courts, but you don't want to forget about the ones that got you there like Meg [Kowalski] and Vivian [Wolff] who won 1-1 and 2-2," Wallace said. "That got us on the board quick and that was huge. Of course, Marta [Gonzalez] too played a really good player and won after bouncing back from her past two losses."
After dropping the doubles point, the Bulldogs grabbed four first sets in singles, and not long after the fourth was preserved, one of the courts finished up.
Kowalski, ranked No. 84 in ITA Singles, flew past No. 44 Emma Higuchi, 6-1, 6-1, to knot the match at 1-all. Wolff gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead by defeating No. 14 Emily Arbuthnott, 6-2, 6-2, on court four. Both victories were the highest-ranked wins in their careers.
On court two, Gonzalez, ranked No. 10, defeated No. 46 Melissa Lord, 7-5, 6-2, for the 3-1 Georgia lead. Gonzalez improved to 18-5 and grabbed her first singles win of the tournament.
At this point, Jokic's third set was getting underway in addition to a third set on court three. Stanford's 37th-ranked Janice Shin bested Elena Christofi, 6-3, 6-2 on court five to make it 3-2. Building suspense, No. 57 Caroline Lampl of Stanford outlasted Georgia freshman Lourdes Carle, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, bringing the score to 3-all and setting up for court one's dramatics.
In the 2018 NCAA elite eight meeting, Jokic and Gordon met on the same court, but the match went unfinished. This time the Georgia sophomore sent her team to the next round. The victory pushed Jokic's overall season mark to 15-2 including a dozen ranked wins.
Stanford obtained the doubles point for the early 1-0 lead. First, Wolff/Carle lost on court one, 6-3, to the 11th-ranked tandem of Lampl and Kimberly Yee. Closely after, Jokic and Kowalski dispatched the No. 21-ranked duo of Lord and Niluka Madurawe, 6-4, on court three. The deciding court was deadlocked at 5-all until the Cardinal's 13th-ranked tandem of Gordon and Arthbuthnott won the last two games to beat Morgan Coppoc and Christofi.
"The great thing is we are seeing a total team effort," Wallace added. "The same three or four are not getting it done for us. It is a collection of players stepping up at the right time. You never know who it is going to be and that is a mark of a good team."
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).
With the team score tied at 3-all, everything hinged on court one where Georgia sophomore Katarina Jokic, ranked No. 2 in ITA singles, was battling Stanford's No. 23 Michaela Gordon in the third set. Jokic broke Gordon's serve to take a 4-3 lead, and then four-straight points on serve gave Jokic a commanding 5-3 advantage. To seal the match, Jokic broke Gordon's serve once more for the 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 win.
The trip to the ITA Team Indoors Championship marks the eighth in Georgia history. The Bulldogs won in 1994, '95, and '02, while finishing runner-up in 2001, '04, '09, and '15. Georgia (6-0) will face the winner of the other semifinal between No. 3 North Carolina and No. 4 Duke on Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET in the Lloyd Nordstrom Tennis Center.
Stanford, the reigning 2018 NCAA Champion, falls to 5-1 on the season. The Cardinal bounced the Bulldogs out of the 2018 NCAA Championships in the elite eight en route to their championship. The last time Georgia dethroned a No. 1-ranked team was when the Bulldogs beat Florida on March 17, 2017 in Gainesville, Fla.
"She [Jokic] really locked down that second set, winning 6-1, which really turned the match around completely and gave her a lot of momentum going into the third set," Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. "She was up in the first game but had to play deuce point and broke a string, and although she played a great point, she ended up losing it. She came right back around and handled that well though. She played a clean third set. She really locked it down and played some smart tennis and stuck to the game plan. It was a very exciting win."
Prior to Jokic's clincher, Georgia received singles wins from freshman Meg Kowalski, sophomore Vivian Wolff, and junior Marta Gonzalez.
"At the end of these matches, it is easy to forget about the earlier finished courts, but you don't want to forget about the ones that got you there like Meg [Kowalski] and Vivian [Wolff] who won 1-1 and 2-2," Wallace said. "That got us on the board quick and that was huge. Of course, Marta [Gonzalez] too played a really good player and won after bouncing back from her past two losses."
After dropping the doubles point, the Bulldogs grabbed four first sets in singles, and not long after the fourth was preserved, one of the courts finished up.
Kowalski, ranked No. 84 in ITA Singles, flew past No. 44 Emma Higuchi, 6-1, 6-1, to knot the match at 1-all. Wolff gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead by defeating No. 14 Emily Arbuthnott, 6-2, 6-2, on court four. Both victories were the highest-ranked wins in their careers.
On court two, Gonzalez, ranked No. 10, defeated No. 46 Melissa Lord, 7-5, 6-2, for the 3-1 Georgia lead. Gonzalez improved to 18-5 and grabbed her first singles win of the tournament.
At this point, Jokic's third set was getting underway in addition to a third set on court three. Stanford's 37th-ranked Janice Shin bested Elena Christofi, 6-3, 6-2 on court five to make it 3-2. Building suspense, No. 57 Caroline Lampl of Stanford outlasted Georgia freshman Lourdes Carle, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, bringing the score to 3-all and setting up for court one's dramatics.
In the 2018 NCAA elite eight meeting, Jokic and Gordon met on the same court, but the match went unfinished. This time the Georgia sophomore sent her team to the next round. The victory pushed Jokic's overall season mark to 15-2 including a dozen ranked wins.
Stanford obtained the doubles point for the early 1-0 lead. First, Wolff/Carle lost on court one, 6-3, to the 11th-ranked tandem of Lampl and Kimberly Yee. Closely after, Jokic and Kowalski dispatched the No. 21-ranked duo of Lord and Niluka Madurawe, 6-4, on court three. The deciding court was deadlocked at 5-all until the Cardinal's 13th-ranked tandem of Gordon and Arthbuthnott won the last two games to beat Morgan Coppoc and Christofi.
"The great thing is we are seeing a total team effort," Wallace added. "The same three or four are not getting it done for us. It is a collection of players stepping up at the right time. You never know who it is going to be and that is a mark of a good team."
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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