Lady’Back tennis team rallies past Georgia to achieve 5th-straight conference win
Posted on Monday, March 24, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Sports/63468/
There’s only won way to spell the 22 nd-ranked Arkansas Lady Razorbacks’ 4-3 Southeastern Conference victory over the 6 th-ranked Georgia on Sunday, C-L-U-T-C-H. Down 3-2 to Georgia (12-4, 4-2 in SEC ), No. 122 Ela Kaluder fought off No. 45 Yvette Hyndman, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, after being down 3-2 in the third set. Now that the match was all square at three, the hero of the day for the Lady’Backs (12-5, 5-1 in SEC ), senior Maryori Franco, tied her cape tight. After dropping the first set to No. 115 Naoko Ueshima, 3-6, Franco stormed back to take the second, 6-4. The senior from Baranquilla, Columbia added a little spice to the third set, 6-4, to capture the program’s second ever win against Georgia and first since 1998. Arkansas’ 5-1 mark in the SEC currently puts them in first place in the Western Division with a two-match lead over both LSU and Auburn in second-place. The Lady’Backs next match against Florida will determine the overall leader in the SEC. “ This was a really big victory for a lot of reason, ” said Michael Hegarty, Lady’Back tennis coach. “ Obviously it was another huge SEC win for our team, but the girls just fought so hard and played so well, that was the best part. ” No shocker to Lady’Back tennis fans, Arkansas snagged their ninth-straight doubles point with a clean sweep of the Bulldogs. Franco and teammate Nanar Airapetian toppled Ueshima and Monika Dancevic, 8-3, while No. 50 Audrey Bordeleau and Anouk Tigu clinched a 1-0 lead by defeating Adrienne Elsberry and Cameron Ellis, 8-2. Number 32, Aurelija Miseviciute and Ela Kaluder, took the brooms to No. 25 Kelley and Y. Hyndman, 8-3, to complete the three wins in doubles.
Miseviciute, ranked No. 1 nationally, increased the Lady’Back lead to 2-0 with a routing of K. Hyndman, 6-1, 6-1. The win was Miseviciute’s 40 th on the season, placing her in third-place for wins in a season by a Lady’Back.
The Bulldogs tied the match back up with wins on Courts 3 and 5. Monika Dancevic, No. 81 in singles, won against Tigu, 7-5, 6-1. Shortly after Dancevic’s victory, Cameron Ellis dropped Nanar Airapetian, 6-1, 7-5. Georgia grabbed their first lead of the day, 3-2, when Elsberry handed Bordeleau her first conference loss of the season, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Although Georgia grabbed a late, and what looked to be crucial lead, the admirable play of Kaluder and Franco extended Arkansas’ conference winning streak to five games.
“ Georgia is a great team, and they made us earn this victory today, ” Hegarty said. “ Having Mayo [Maryori Franco ], Ela [Kaluder ] and Audrey [Bordeleau ] left on the court tied at 2-2 was truly a great thing for us. ” Arkansas will be back in action seeking their sixthconsecutive SEC win on Friday, Mar. 28 at No. 4 Florida.