ATLANTA--The Georgia State women's tennis team dropped
a painfully close 4-3 match to No. 31-ranked Illinois on Saturday at the
Blackburn Tennis Center.
With
the team score tied 3-3, graduate student Jocelyn Ffriend rallied to force a
third set at the No. 6 singles match looking to give GSU the victory. She
fought off a 40-0 deficit while down 5-4 in the second set and rallied to tie
the set and eventually win it in a tiebreaker. In the third set, Ffriend broke
serve while down 4-1 but could not close the gap further.
The
Panthers (2-2), led by sixth-year head coach Miha Lisac, dropped the doubles point vs. Illinois (3-4) to fall behind 1-0
in the team score early. The match was GSU's fourth-consecutive against a
nationally-ranked opponent.
Junior
Abigail Tere-Apisah bounced back from a doubles loss at the No. 1 position for
a quick victory against No. 106-ranked Melissa Kopinski. Tere-Apisah, ranked
No. 29 in the ITA National Singles rankings, won a 6-2, 6-1 match to record her
second victory against a nationally-ranked singles opponent this season. The
win gave GSU its first point on the day.
Sophomore
Masa Grgan notched an important victory at No. 2 singles vs. Illinois' Rachael
White. Her 6-4, 6-2 victory tied the team score at 2-2. Freshman Linn
Timmermann then secured a lengthy 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles to tie the
team score at 3-3. She trailed 2-1 and 4-3 in the third set before rallying to
win the match.
Georgia
State's match vs. Wake Forest that was originally schedule for 10 a.m. has been
canceled. The Panthers next take the court on Feb. 9 at No. 68-ranked Auburn.
Visit the women's tennis page on GeorgiaStateSports.com for a preview of the
match next week.
#31 University of
Illinois 4, #62 Georgia State 3
Singles competition
1. #29 Abigail
Tere-Apisah (GSU) def. #106 Melissa Kopinski (UI) 6-2, 6-1
2. Masa Grgan (GSU)
def. Rachael White (UI) 6-3, 6-2
3. #59 Allison Falkin
(UI) def. Whitney Byrd (GSU) 6-3, 6-1
4. Linn Timmermann
(GSU) def. Misia Kedzierski (UI) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
5. Breanne Smutko
(UI) def. Chaimaa Roudami (GSU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Audrey O'Connor
(UI) def. Jocelyn Ffriend (GSU) 7-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #11 Melissa
Kopinski/Rachael White (UI) def. #19 Abigail Tere-Apisah/Masa Grgan (GSU) 8-4
2. Audrey
O'Connor/Breanne Smutko (UI) def. Whitney Byrd/Maryna Kozachenko (GSU) 8-3
3. Jocelyn
Ffriend/Linn Timmermann (GSU) vs. Misia Kedzierski/Allison Falkin (UI) 3-6,
unfinished
www.GeorgiaStateSports.com
