Friday, 02/19/2010

For Immediate Release/Women’s Tennis

Feb. 14, 2009

MADISON, WIS.-----Sixth-ranked Miami (Fla.) defeated fourth-ranked Georgia 5-2 Sunday in the consolation draw at the National Team Indoor Championships at the A.C. Nielsen Tennis Center.

The Bulldogs (4-3) captured the doubles point for an early 1-0 advantage, but the Hurricanes (4-3) responded by winning five of the six singles matches including three of the four that went three sets. Senior Naoko Ueshima was the lone Bulldog winner in singles.

In doubles, Miami’s No. 2 team of Anna Bartenstein and Bianca Eichkorn finished first with an 8-3 win over Georgia’s Yvette Hyndman and Cameron Ellis. The Bulldogs answered by winning at No. 3 as Ueshima and Lara Fakhoury registered an 8-2 win over Claudia Wasilewski and Danielle Mills. The point came down to the No. 1 match where Georgia’s Nadja Gilchrist and Chelsey Gullickson came through with their 10th straight win. They defeated Laura Vallverdu and Gabriela Mehia 8-4 to move their record to 11-3 this year.

At this tournament, three singles matches go on at one time, and Sunday’s slate called for the No. 2,4 and 6 contests to be put on first.  The Hurricanes evened the match with a win at No. 6. Wasilewski outlasted Fakhoury 6-2,4-6,6-3 to make it 1-1. At No. 2, Eichkorn rallied past Gilchrist 4-6,7-5,6-3 for a 2-1 overall lead. It snapped Gilchrist’s nine-match winning streak. Ueshima tied the match with a win at No. 4 as she fought back for a 1-6,7-5,6-2 decision over Mills. The Hurricanes swept the remainder of the matches for the team win.

The feature match pitted seventh-ranked Vallverdu versus 14th-ranked Gullickson at No. 1. It was a rematch of last year’s semifinals of the NCAA Championships. Vallverdu emerged with a win again, this time by a score of 6-3,6-3. It ended Gullickson’s nine-match winning streak. Gullickson and Gilchrist share the best singles record for the Bulldogs at 15-4.

“I thought we played a really good match in the win over Florida State Saturday, and today we started off by winning doubles but then couldn’t find three more wins in singles,” said Georgia coach Jeff Wallace. “Four of the matches went three sets and Naoko was the only one to come away with a win.”

Georgia now will have a few weeks off to prepare for the start of the outdoor season and Southeastern Conference action. Georgia, the defending SEC regular season and tournament champion, will open SEC competition on March 5 when it plays host to Alabama at 4 p.m.

National Team Indoors: Consolation (Madison, Wis.)

#6 Miami (Fla.) 5, #4 Georgia 2

Doubles

1. Gullickson/Gilchrist (UGA) def. Valvverdu/Mejia (UM) 8-4

2. Bartenstein/Eichkorn (UM) def. Ellis/Hyndman (UGA) 8-3

3. Fakhoury/Ueshima (UGA) def. Wasilewski/Mills (UM) 8-2

Singles

1. #7 Laura Vallverdu (UM) def. #14 Chelsey Gullickson (UGA) 6-3,6-3

2. #99 Bianca Eichkorn (UM) def. #57 Nadja Gilchrist (UGA) 4-6,7-5,6-3

3. Anna Bartenstein (UM) def. Yvette Hyndman (UGA) 6-3,2-6,6-3

4. Naoko Ueshima (UGA) def. Danielle Mills (UM) 1-6,7-5,6-2

5. #93 Gabriela Mejia (UM) def. Cameron Ellis (UGA) 7-5,6-4

6. Claudia Wasilewski (UM) def. Lara Fakhoury (UGA) 6-2,4-6,6-3

#=ITA Ranking

Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,2,4,1,5,3)

Team Records: #4 Georgia (4-3); #6 Miami (4-3)