No. 14 Duke Wins Second Upset Of Week Over No. 12 Georgia Tech, 5-2

Sunday, April 9

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

Georgia Tech

No. 14 Duke Wins Second Upset Of Week Over No. 12 Georgia Tech, 5-2

4/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? The 14th-ranked Duke women's tennis team completed a 3-0 week Sunday, remaining undefeated against conference foe Georgia Tech with a 5-2 victory at the Ambler Tennis Stadium. Upping its records to 15-5 overall and 8-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Blue Devils closed their home season with a 9-1 ledger after defeating their third top-25 opponent of the week and the second ranked higher than them in the Fila Collegiate Tennis rankings.

Duke lost at all three doubles positions but refused to go down easy, yielding no more than a three-game margin in any of them. In the 85 minutes of doubles play, freshmen Tara Iyer and Jessi Robinson fell, 8-5, at No. 3 to Kacie Anson and Alison Silverio, and senior Jackie Carleton and freshman Melissa Mang lost a tight 8-6 battle to Kelly Anderson and Whitney McCray on court two. At No. 1 Daniela Bercek and Jennifer Zika held a one-point lead until 7-6 against the 16th-ranked pair of Kristi Miller and Lyndsay Shosho, hoping to pull off their second straight doubles upset, but the Georgia Tech duo prevailed by claiming two straight points and winning 7-2 in a tiebreaker.

Singles looked to be equally as tough with four of the first sets being decided by two games or less -- two that went to 7-5 and two that ended up in tiebreakers. The Yellow Jackets pulled out the first victory, as top-ranked Miller edged No. 6 Bercek, 7-5, in the first set and then won 6-2 in the second. Georgia Tech held a 2-0 lead in the contest, but Duke triumphed in the next five singles matches for its 5-2 win.

Sophomore Clelia Deltour, ranked No. 103, finished next, sliding past Christy Striplin, 7-6, in her first set before producing a commanding 6-1 win in the second. No. 29 Carleton topped No. 52 Shosho, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 2, winning on Senior Day to even the score at 2-2 in her fifth straight singles victory. In Duke's last upset of the week -- a 4-3 win over No. 5 North Carolina Wednesday -- Carleton accomplished the same feat, winning at No. 2 to tie the score at two apiece in a Blue Devil comeback.

It would be a while before any other matches finished, as all three freshmen -- Mang, Iyer and Robinson -- took their matches to third sets. No. 70 Iyer fell in a tiebreaker in her first set but fought back to win the next two, 6-1, 6-2, over 94th-ranked Kelly Anderson, giving Duke the advantage of needing only one win on the last two courts, while the Yellow Jackets needed two.

Robinson had won an easy 6-2 first set against McCray at No. 5, but the Georgia Tech sophomore came back in the second with a 7-5 win. Robinson fell behind 3-4 in her third set but won four straight games to take the set and the match, clinching Duke's win at 4-2.

Just behind Robinson was Mang on court three, putting up an incredible fight against No. 62 Silverio. Mang fell behind 5-0 in her first set before winning seven consecutive games for a 7-5 win. After falling 6-3 in the second set, Mang pulled ahead, 5-1, in the third. Silverio tried to make a comeback by winning three points in a row to make it 5-4, but Mang pulled through in the last game to win 6-4. The freshman from Metairie, La., owns the teams highest number of singles victories with a 18-2 dual-match record after winning her sixth straight singles match and pulling out her second consecutive upset.

With an 8-1 conference record, the Blue Devils are now sporting the fewest losses in the ACC this year. After wrapping up a six-match home streak, Duke will hit the road to play its final two matches of the regular season against a pair of ACC opponents. The Blue Devils will face No. 70 Florida State at 2 p.m. Friday and No. 6 Miami at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Results
Doubles
1. #16 Kristi Miller/Lyndsay Shosho (GT) def. Daniela Bercek/Jennifer Zika (D), 9-8 (7-2)
2. Kelly Anderson/Whitney McCray (GT) def. Jackie Carleton/Melissa Mang (D), 8-6
3. Kacie Anson/Alison Silverio (GT) def. Tara Iyer/Jessi Robinson (D), 8-5
Order: 3,1*,2

Singles
1. #1 Kristi Miller (GT) def. #6 Daniela Bercek (D), 7-5, 6-2
2. #29 Jackie Carleton (D) def. #52 Lyndsay Shosho (GT), 6-3, 6-4
3. #109 Melissa Mang (D) def. #62 Alison Silverio (GT), 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
4. #70 Tara Iyer (D) def. #94 Kelly Anderson (GT), 6-7, 6-1, 6-2
5. Jessi Robinson (D) def. Whitney McCray (GT), 6-2, 5-7, 7-5
6. #103 Clelia Deltour (D) def. Christy Striplin (GT), 7-6, 6-1
Order: 1,6,2,4,5*,3