Georgia Tech Takes Down Notre Dame In a Thriller

I was in Atlanta last weekend for a big, regular season non-conference women's match between fourth ranked Notre Dame and seventh ranked Georgia Tech. I was expecting that this one would be a classic and it certainly was. Notre Dame came into the match 14-1 while the Lady Jackets were 7-4. Their losses all came at the hands of top ranked schools. When the match started the indoor stands were 90% full on a cool and rainy day in Atlanta. No one knew that this would turn out to be a seven hour match or that we would experience a power loss that knocked the lights out for 15 minutes. That's what helped make the day so memorable.



As Bryan Shelton has turned Georgia Tech into one of the leading power teams in the NCAA, he has consistently scheduled the top teams in the country for his non-conference schedule. As a fan this is great because you know you will always have a chance to see some of the best women's college tennis in the country and it also helps his team to stay sharp as they prepare for post season play. It doesn't hurt that the ACC is also one of the best conferences in the country in tennis.

The match started out with the Irish taking the doubles point, with wins on courts one and two. After the teams split on one and three, the point came down to court two. After almost 90 minutes, ND pulled out a 9-7 win. As a GT follower, you know the women have won many matches over the years after losing the doubles point, including when they won the national championship over UCLA, so you never think they can't win four singles matches. The truth is you don't want to put yourself in that situation if you don't have to.

In singles, Georgia Tech's defending national singles champion, Amanda McDowell, looked strong in defeating 35th ranked Kelsy Tefft in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. On court three, GT's #44 ranked Christy Striplin beat Kristen Rafael rather quickly, 6-1, 6-2.

Just before Notre Dame evened the match at 2-2 on four, the lights went out in the Bill Moore Tennis Center. It reminded some people of the tornado that swept through downtown Atlanta this very weekend last year. It wasn't a weather outage and it took about 15 minutes for the teams to get back out on the courts. The disruption had no impact on the match.

On court two, fifth ranked Irina Falconi of Georgia Tech battled back after losing the first set in what was the best match of the day and defeated 55th ranked Kristy Frilling 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Frilling is a lefty and has a really impressive game. She is especially tough at the net, but she did not come to the net much in this singles match. Falconi never gave up although there were a few times where she lost serve in the second and third sets but each time she was able to get the break back, and then some.

Several of the guys on the GT men's team also attended this match. Guillermo Gomez, the Jackets number one player spent some time with me talking about their season. The men's team is young but they are very competitive and have been in every match. Kenny Thorne is really going to have a good team next season, and they still may surprise some teams before this season is over. If they can get a few solid wins in the ACC, I think they will have a good chance for an at-large bid in the NCAAs in May. Ryan Smith, Miguel Muguruza and Kevin King also stayed throughout the day to cheer on their female counterparts. I love it when teams support one another like that.

The match came down to court six after ND won on court five. Sasha Krupina of Georgia Tech dominated early in the first set and I have to admit I was thinking this would be a breeze. After taking a 4-1 lead, ND's Kail Krisik really started to play tough and took the set to 5-5. Krupina seemed nervous and had to really settle down and she did just enough to break Krisik and take the first set 7-5. Krupina really struggled in the second set and went down 6-1 and it wasn't looking good. She got her one game on her last service game of the set and I think that helped give her some confidence for the third. After holding her serve she got a quick break and I think that was all she needed. Krupina went on to win the set 6-2 and the Lady Jackets had another win over the Fighting Irish.

The day also was promoted as "Ace for the Cure," where donations were accepted for breast cancer research. The Yellow Jackets raised over $650 from this fundraiser. Fans contributed by donating, pledging per ace, buying raffle tickets and purchasing pink hats and visors. The Jackets registered 12 aces on the day, including nine by Krupina.

Georgia Tech is now 4-0 all time against Notre Dame since they started playing in 2006. I bet these two will have one more shot at each other later this year at the NCAA national championships. Who would not want to see that one? I've been to a ton of college matches over the last 10 years and this match easily falls into my top 10 memorable matches. It was a classic played by two great teams. Can you do it again, please?

Time.