SEC Championship - Day Two Results
SEC Women’s Tennis Championship
Fayetteville, Ark.
Day Two – Thursday, April 24
No. 3 Georgia 4, No. 24 Alabama 1
Naoko Ueshima topped Taylor Lindsey 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5 to give No. 3 Georgia a 4-1 victory over No. 24 Alabama in the second round of the SEC Women’s Tennis Championship at Arkansas on Friday.
The Bulldogs, the regular season champion and No. 1 seed in the tournament, also had singles wins from No. 12 Chelsea Gullickson at No. 1, 6-0, 6-0 over Tiffany Welcher, and No. 85 Monika Dancevic at No. 4, 6-1, 6-0 over Meritt Emery.
Georgia clinched the doubles point with Yvette Hyndman and Dancevic, and Ueshima and Cameron Ellis posting 8-1 wins at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
Alabama’s point came at No. 2 where Courtney McLane upset No. 49 Hyndman, 6-2, 7-5.
The Bulldogs, 21-2, advance to Saturday’s 10 a.m. semifinal against the Vanderbilt-Florida winner. Eighth-seeded Alabama, which advanced to the quarterfinals with Thursday’s 4-0 over Auburn, is 15-8.
No. 3 Georgia 4, No. 24 Alabama 1
Doubles
No. 1 – Chelsey Gullickson/Nadja Gilchrist (UG) vs. Courtney McLane/Taylor Lindsey, dnf
No. 2 – Yvette Hyndman/Monika Dancevic (UG) def. Paulina Bigos/Shelley Godwin, 8-1
No. 3 – Naoko Ueshima/Cameron Ellis (UG) def. Tiffany Welcher/Alice Tunaru, 8-1
Order: 2,3*
Singles
No. 1 – Chelsea Gullickson (UG) def. Tiffany Welcher, 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 – Courtney McLane (Ala) def. Yvette Hyndman, 6-2, 7-5
No. 3 – Nadja Gilchrist (UG) vs. Paulino Bigos, dnf
No. 4 – Monika Dancevic (UG) def. Meritt Emery, 6-1, 6-0
No. 5 – Naoko Ueshima (UG) vs. Taylor Lindsey, 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 – Cameron Ellis (UG) vs. Shelley Godwin, dnf
Order: 4,1,2,5*
QUOTES
Georgia Head Coach Jeff Wallace:
“I thought we played well, winning two in doubles, both 8-1. It was windy, so we came inside and played singles. I thought Chelsey played great on court 1.
“They started coming back and fighting hard. Naoko is a great competitor. She was down 4-3 and won three straight games to clinch the win.”
Alabama Head Coach Jenny Mainz:
“I’m very proud of our team. I think we came out and we left it all out on the court. We played hard, we battled back. We were down the entire match. We were down on courts five, six, three and even on two in the second set. I think it shows a lot of character.
“We’ve been resilient all year. We’ve won a lot of matches on pride and the x-factor. The difference was we needed to believe earlier.
“I want to congratulate Georgia. They are a very good team, a very talented team, and they deserve to be commended for that.”
No. 15 Florida 4, No. 19 Vanderbilt 2
Jessica Alexander’s 7-5, 6-4 win over Chelsea Preeg at No. 4 singles clinched No. 15 Florida’s 4-2 victory over No. 19 Vanderbilt in the second round of the SEC Women’s Tennis Championship at Arkansas on Friday.
Vanderbilt’s Courtney Ulery tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 6 before No. 7 Marrit Boonstra put the Gators in front with a 6-1, 6-3 win over No. 61 Catherine Newman at No. 1. Jo Mather extended Florida’s lead to 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3, but Heather Steinbaur pulled the Commodores within 3-2 with a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 5.
Courtney Ulery and Keilly Ulery beat Brooke Allen and Lauren Wolken at No. 3 doubles, 8-1, to give VU the early lead, but Florida claimed the doubles point with an 8-4 win at No. 1 by Boonstra and Mather, and an 8-5 win at No. 2 by Alexander and Anastasia Revzina.
Florida, the No. 4 seed and now 14-8 overall, advances to Saturday’s 10 a.m. semifinal against top-seeded Georgia. Vanderbilt, the No. 5 seed which advanced with Thursday’s 4-0 win over Mississippi State, is 11-8.
No. 15 Florida 4, No. 19 Vanderbilt 2
Doubles
No. 1 Marrit Boonstra/Jo Mather (Fla) def. Jackie Wu/Heather Steinbaur, 8-4
No. 2 – Jessica Alexander/Anastasia Revzina (Fla) def. Catherine Newman/Chelsea Preeg, 8-5
No. 3 – Courtney Ulery/Keilly Ulery (VU) def. Brooke Allen/Lauren Wolken, 8-1
Order: 3, 2, 1*
Singles
No. 1 – Marrit Boonstra (Fla) def. Catherine Newman, 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 – Anastasia Revzina (Fla) vs. Jackie Wu, dnf
No. 3 – Jo Mather (Fla) def. Keilly Ulery, 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 – Jessica Alexander (Fla) def. Chelsea Preeg, 7-5, 6-4
No. 5 – Heather Steinbaur (VU) def. Barbara Pintervo, 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 – Courtney Ulery (VU) def. Brooke Allen, 6-1, 6-2
Order: 6,1,3,5,4*
QUOTES
Florida Head Coach Roland Thornqvist:
“We played well in doubles. That was our key today because our players felt like they could win. Although she didn’t get to finish, the turnaround was on court two. (Anastasia Revzina) was down 3-0 but came back and won the first set (6-4). She was a key to the win on the other courts. Our players did great. We have an uphill climb (Saturday against Georgia), but we are ready to tackle the challenge. We play Vanderbilt every year, and it’s always a classy match and a great match.”
Vanderbilt Head Coach Geoff Macdonald:
“We just could not get over the hump. Florida played really well (Marrit) Boonstra did a good job. They played a great doubles point. It’s weird to be playing inside (due to heavy winds), but that’s the way it goes. Their top four were phenomenal. We fought really hard, but we’re really young and I think we’ll learn from this.
“I thought we had a lot of chances to finish some games and points but we struggled closing games out.
“Florida played very well today and I want to give their coaches and players a lot of credit for competing at such a high level. “When you are competing against a team like Florida you have to be real focused and limit your mistakes and mental errors.”
No. 26 Ole Miss 4, No. 14 Arkansas 3
Gabriela Rangel posted a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win over Arkansas’ Kate Lukomskaya at No. 5 singles to give No. 26 Ole Miss a 4-3 win in the second round of the SEC Women’s Tennis Championship at Arkansas on Friday.
Arkansas, ranked No. 14 and now 13-7, played without sophomore Anouk Tigu, who missed the match due to an illness. With Tigu out of the lineup and no replacement, the Razorbacks defaulted at No. 3 doubles, and moved everyone up one spot in the singles lineup and defaulted at No. 6.
Ole Miss’ Kristi Boxx and Karen Nijssen topped Ela Kaluder and Aurelija Miseviciute at No. 1 doubles, 8-4, to get the doubles point. With Tigu out of the singles lineup, Ole Miss led 2-0 early.
The Razorbacks battled back for a 3-2 lead with wins from Emily Carbone at No. 4, Nanar Airapetian at No. 3 and No. 2 Aurelija Miseviciute at No. 1.
Ole Miss’ No. 69 Karen Nijssen held off Ela Kaluder at No. 2, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), at No. 2 to tie the match at 3-3.
The Rebels, who beat LSU 4-1 in Thursday’s first round, are now 14-8. Ole Miss advances to Saturday’s 1 p.m. semifinal against the winner of the Tennessee-South Carolina matchup.
No. 26 Ole Miss 4, No. 14 Arkansas 3
Doubles
No. 1 – Kristi Boxx/Karen Nijssen (Miss) def. Ela Kaluder/Aurelija Miseviciute, 8-4
No. 2 – Nanar Airapetian/Kate Lukomskaya (Ark) vs. Abigail Guthrie/Gabriela Rangela, dnf
No. 3 – Laura van de Stroet/Mimi Renaudin (Miss) default win due to illness
Order: 3,1
Singles
No. 1 – Aurelija Miseviciute (Ark) vs Kristi Boxx, 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 – Karen Nijssen (Miss) def. Ela Kaluder, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4)
No. 3 – Nanar Airapetian (Ark) def. Laura van de Stroet, 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 – Emily Carbone (Ark) def. Abigail Guthrie, 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 – Garbiela Rangel (Miss) def. Kate Lukomskaya, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
No. 6 – Mimi Renaudin (Miss) won by default due to illness
Order: 6,4,3,1,2, 5*
QUOTES
Ole Miss Head Coach Mark Beyers:
“We played really well at doubles and were able to get that doubles point, but it was a battle. Even without one player, Arkansas is still a great team. I thought the kids did a good job handling the pressure. There was so much pressure for (Gabriela Rangel) to come through in this situation. It’s tough.”
Arkansas Head Coach Michael Hegarty:
“I give full credit to Ole Miss. They have gotten better since we played them. They are getting ready for the NCAAs and we have to get ready ourselves. I believe we are a very resilient group. If you can mentally control your own court, you have the motivation to do well or better. You want to be good all the time and competitive all the time. We play well at home, so it was bitter sweet to only play one match here. You have to be good all the time. When you have a really good team, one or two people should not make a difference. We went out feeling very confident today. Both teams handled it very well. It was a tough match.”
No. 10 Tennessee 4, No. 22 South Carolina 2
Caitlin Whoriskey won a hard-fought 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 decision over South Carolina’s Gira Schofield at No. 1 singles to give No. 10 Tennessee a 4-2 victory over No. 22 South Carolina in the second round of the SEC Women’s Tennis Championship at Arkansas on Friday.
Whoriskey is ranked No. 45 in the nation and Schofield No. 46.
The Volunteers, the No. 3 seed and now 16-5, advance to Saturday’s 1 p.m. semifinal against seventh-seeded Ole Miss.
UT won the doubles point and got singles wins from Jennifer Meredith and Maria Sorbello at No. 4 and No. 6, respectively, to take a 3-0 lead.
South Carolina, the No. 6 seed, pulled within 3-2 when Dijana Stojic posted a 6-4, 6-3 win over Samantha Orlin at No. 3 and No. 43 Ana Zubori topped No. 117 Natalie Pluskota at No. 2, 7-6 (10-8), 6-3.
The Volunteers won the doubles point with Whoriskey and Pluskota winning at No. 1, and Sorbello and Meredith at No. 3.
USC, which advanced with a 4-2 win over Kentucky on Thursday, is now 14-10.
No. 10 Tennessee 4, No. 22 South Carolina 2
Doubles
No. 1 – Caitlin Whoriskey/Natalie Pluskota (Tenn) def. Natasa Vuckovic/Ana Zubori, 8-1
No. 2 – Miljana Jocic/Gira Schofield (USC) def. Rosalia Alda/Zsofia Zubor, 8-2
No. 3 – Maria Sorbello/Jennifer Meredith (Tenn) def. Dijana Stojic/Suzanna Mansour, 8-5
Order: 1,2,3*
Singles
No. 1 – Caitlin Whoriskey (Tenn) vs Gira Schofield, 7-6 (3), 7-5
No. 2 – Ana Zubori (USC) def. Natalie Pluskota, 7-6 (8), 6-3
No. 3 – Dijana Stojic (USC) def. Samantha Orlin, 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 – Jennifer Meredith (Tenn) def. Natasa Vuckovic, 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 – Rosalia Alda (Tenn) vs. Miljana Jocic
No. 6 – Maria Sorbello (Tenn) def. Suzanna Mansour, 6-3, 6-1
Order: 4,6,3,2,1*
QUOTES
Tennessee Co-Head Coach Mike Patrick:
“This was just a great college tennis match between two very talented teams. Both teams showed up ready to play and we are very fortunate to have come out on top. Give credit to South Carolina, they really made us work for everything we got. We’ll try to get some rest tonight and get ready for another very good team in Ole Miss tomorrow. Caitlin (Whoriskey) showed why she is at the top of our singles lineup. She did exactly what she was supposed to do. She stayed patient, didn’t overplay and was able to come up with a huge win for us. Jennifer (Meredith) also played really well today. She made short work of a terrific player in Natasa Vuckovic, which is not easy to do.”
South Carolina Head Coach Arlo Elkins:
“Even though the outcome was not in our favor, I can’t ask for a better effort. Our effort level toward the end of the season has been very high and that’s the most important thing to me. We are looking forward to the NCAA selection show next week.”
