Jackets Drop Heartbreaker to No. 9 Duke, 4-3 – Women’s Tennis — Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

THE FLATS – Facing its second top-10 ranked opponent this weekend, Georgia Tech won three singles matches on Sunday, but could not pull out a victory, falling, 4-3, to No. 9 Duke in the Ken Byers Tennis Complex. The Yellow Jackets dropped to 7-6 overall and 2-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference play with the loss.

DOUBLES
With victories on courts one and three, Duke captured the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead heading into singles play. Court three handed the Blue Devils the early advantage as Georgia Drummy and Iuliia Bryzgalova won four straight games to take a 6-2 decision over Monika Dedaj and Rosie Garcia Gross. But the doubles field was quickly evened minutes later when Kylie Bilchev and Alejandra Cruz sealed a 6-2 win on court two over Karolina Berankova and Ellie Coleman. The Jackets raced out early, gaining momentum quickly with a break in the opening game. Bilchev and Cruz extended their lead to 5-1 and pocketed a 6-2 victory.

After trading doubles matches on two and three, the point was decided on court one where Chloe Beck and Cameron Morra led Carol Lee and Kate Sharabura, 4-2. Tech closed the deficit to 5-4, but the Blue Devils finished the match for a 6-4 win, clinching the doubles point for Duke.

SINGLES
Duke pushed its lead to 3-0, collecting straight-set wins on court four and six before Mahak Jain put the Yellow Jackets on the scoreboard. Competing on court three, Jain picked up her 10^th dual win of the season, defeating No. 24 Emma Jackson in straight-sets. Jain took a 3-2 lead in the first and never looked back, taking the set, 6-2. She opened the second set with a 3-0 advantage and downed Jackson, 6-2, setting up a 3-1 match score.

Bilchev held for a straight-set win on court two, drawing the Jackets within one. Facing Morra, Bilchev opened with a commanding lead in the first set, 4-2, and gained the set lead at 6-3. The Jacket held a 3-2 lead in the second set, but Morra rallied back to knot the set at 6-6. In the tiebreaker, Bilchev erased a 0-3 deficit and gained a 5-4 advantage. The Jacket clinched the win, 7-4, in the tiebreak, setting up a 3-2 match score.

But Duke clinched the match within minutes on court one. Facing her second top-three opponent in as many matches, Lee battled No. 3 Beck. Duke took an early break in the first set, 3-2, to hold for a 6-4 opener. But Lee rallied in the second set, and forced a tiebreak at 6-all. Beck took an early lead in the tiebreak, and held for a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory to clinch the overall…