The No. 5 Georgia women’s tennis team lost a close match, 4-3, to No. 12 Georgia Tech on Friday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
 
 
Georgia’s Elena Christofi, Ellen Perez and Marta Gonzalez tallied singles victories but the Bulldogs (6-2) were unable to make up ground in the other singles matches after conceding the doubles point.
 
 
“First of all, Georgia Tech played a great match,” Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. “They played aggressive so you have to tip your hat to them, they played well. It is always a battle with them as it should be. We have to get a little better at doubles so we have to keep working on doubles and doing the small things right like limiting double faults and things of that nature.”
 
 
On court one in singles, Perez dropped the first set in a tiebreaker but rallied to down Johnnise Renaud 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-3. Perez’s win cut Georgia’s deficit to 3-2 but No. 102 Nami Otsuka of GT outlasted Bulldog junior Mariana Gould on court five to clinch it for the Yellow Jackets.
 
 
The premier matchup played out on court three as the top ranked player from each team squared off, No. 15 Christofi (UGA) and No. 71 Rasheeda McAdoo (GT). The heavily contested match needed two set tiebreakers with Christofi getting the upper hand in both 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5). Christofi’s win finished after Georgia Tech had already secured the win.
 
 
Gonzalez earned the first point for the Bulldogs as she took care of Georgia Tech freshman Nadia Gizdova 6-3,6-1 on court six. The freshman from Madrid, Spain is ranked No. 111 and sports a 14-3 record on the season.
 
 
Senior Caroline Brinson and junior Kennedy Shaffer dropped both their matches playing No. 2 and No. 4, respectively.
 
 
Georgia Tech jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after winning on court one and two in doubles. The Yellow Jackets seventh-ranked doubles tandem of McAdoo and Renaud defeated Perez and Christofi 6-2, while No. 30 Kenya Jones and Paige Hourigan edged Brinson and Shaffer 6-4.
 
 
“We just have to figure out ways we can learn and get better and I think we can,” Wallace added. “We look forward to getting into SEC matches. The toughest thing in sports is when you have a tough loss like this, but the greatest thing is that there will be a next match and we have to get ready for that.”
 
 
The Bulldogs start conference play next Friday on March 3rd against the Kentucky Wildcats at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.