Tennis Earns Victories at High-Profile Southern Shootout
Monday, 09/24/2012
ATLANTA—The Georgia State women’s tennis team capped a successful weekend against a high-profile field that included three nationally-ranked teams and four nationally-ranked singles players at the Southern Shootout.
Junior Abigail Tere-Apisah competed in a star-studded top singles flight at the Southern Shootout, defeating two nationally-ranked opponents in the tournament. Tere-Apisah, the No. 23-ranked player in the ITA Preseason Singles rankings, won a 6-3, 6-1 match vs. USF’s No. 29-ranked Ecaterina Vasenina on Saturday. She also notched a 6-3, 7-5 match vs. Georgia Tech’s No. 94-ranked Elizabeth Kilborn.
The Panthers dropped just two doubles matches on the weekend. The duo of sophomore Chaimaa Roudami and freshman Linn Timmernann improved their record to 5-0 together with two wins over the weekend. Tere-Apisah partnered with sophomore Masa Grgan to earn a victory over the No. 24-ranked doubles team of Vasenina and Loreto Alonso of USF, 8-3, on Friday. The two also rallied from down 7-2 to win a 9-7 match against Georgia Tech’s Kilborn and Kendal Woodard.
Timmermann and classmate Natallia Vavulina continued the hot starts to their careers at GSU in singles play. Timmermann went 3-0 at the Southern Shootout, knocking off competition from NC State and USF in straight sets. Vavulina went 2-1 in the Piedmont Flight this weekend and capped it with a hard-fought 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win vs. Georgia Tech’s Jasmine Minor on Sunday. Vavulina paired with junior Maryna Kozachenko to win two matches in doubles play on the weekend.
Roudami also continued her hot start in singles play by earning two victories on the weekend. Sophomores Phoebe Chiem and Megan Nelms split two doubles matches and improved their record to 4-1 in doubles play on the season. Seniors Whitney Byrd and Jocelyn Ffriend paired to earn two doubles victories.
Tere-Apisah recently earned an invite into the main draw at the ITA Women’s All-American Championship in Pacific Palisades, Calif., beginning on Sept. 29. She begins preparations to compete in the tournament, which invites the nation’s best to crown an individual singles and doubles champion. The Panthers look forward to their next fall tournament on Oct. 5 at the Roberta Allison Fall Classic hosted by the University of Alabama.
Visit the women’s tennis page for a preview and all coverage of Tere-Apisah’s play at the All-American Championships beginning in early October.
