No. 50 Cardinals Fall to No. 11 Georgia Tech

Friday, April 9

LOUISVILLE, KY

12:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

Georgia Tech

April 09, 2021 | Women's Tennis

Box Score

Neely and Verma notch wins for Louisville

By: Nancy Worley

The No.50 University of Louisville women's tennis team suffered a 5-2 defeat to No. 11 Georgia Tech Friday afternoon at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

"What makes it difficult to play a conference team like Georgia Tech is if you don't capitalize on the opportunities that are given to you, it is going to be kind of tough to come back and win." said Mark Beckham, UofL head coach. "Georgia Tech played well, and we actually played better than we have been playing of late. If we have played like this the last few matches, then I think we would have had better results, but that's the tough thing. You can play really well, but not get the results you want. I have to give Georgia Tech credit, but we did a little better this match. We have to bring it on Sunday, because that's going to be very important match to improve our seeding in the ACC Tournament."

The Cardinals are now 7-11, 3-8 ACC, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 13-9, 6-5 ACC.

Georgia Tech commanded the early lead by taking two out of the three courts for the doubles point. Rhea Verma and Andrea Di Palma fell 6-1 to the No. 2-ranked Victoria Flores and Kenya Jones at No.1 before Cardinals' No. 27-ranked Raven Neely and Tatiana Simova upset No.18-ranked Ava Hrastar and Gia Cohen 6-1 at the No.2 slot. The win marks the duo's first ranked win and extends their record to 11-5 on the season. With each court splitting a decision, the doubles point would come down to court three where Dina Chaika and Nikolina Jovic battled back to get within one but were ultimately defeated by Georgia Tech's Carol Lee and Monika Dedaj 6-3.

The Yellow Jackets carried over the momentum into singles, clinching the match with wins on courts six, four and two. Neely got the Cardinals on the board by securing a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over No.99-ranked Gia Cohen at No.3. The latest win extends her current winning streak to three. Rhea Verma notched the second point of the match after outlasting Georgia Tech's Carol Lee in a three-set tiebreaker, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4).

Louisville will be back in action Sunday, April 11 to close out their conference schedule with a noon match against Clemson at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

Tennis Match Results
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs Louisville
Apr 09, 2021 at Louisville, Ky.
(Bass Rudd Tennis Center)
#11 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 5, #50 Louisville 2
Singles competition
1. #2 Kenya Jones (GT) def. Nikolina Jovic (LOU) 5-7, 6-2, 6-1
2. #13 Victoria Flores (GT) def. #93 Andrea Di Palma (LOU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Raven Neely (LOU) def. #99 Gia Cohen (GT) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
4. Ava Hrastar (GT) def. Chelsea Sawyer (LOU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Rhea Verma (LOU) def. Carol Lee (GT) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4)
6. Mahak Jain (GT) def. Dina Chaika (LOU) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #1 Victoria Flores/Kenya Jones (GT) def. Rhea Verma/Andrea Di Palma (LOU) 6-1
2. #27 Raven Neely/Tatiana Simova (LOU) def. #18 Ava Hrastar/Gia Cohen (GT) 6-2
3. Carol Lee/Monika Dedaj (GT) def. Dina Chaika/Nikolina Jovic (LOU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 13-9, 6-5; National ranking #11
Louisville 7-11,3-9; National ranking #50
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,4,3,2,1,5)
T-3:02