The Georgia women’s team has enjoyed a solid two days at the ITA National Fall Championships as the doubles team Mariana Gould and Katarina Jokic advanced by knocking off the top seed, Duke’s Ellyse Hamlin and Kaitlyn McCarthy on Wednesday and then followed that performance up by dispatching the 11th-ranked duo of Olivia Hauger and Karla Popovic (California) 6-3,6-1.
The Gould-Jokic team improves to 12-2 this fall and now gets a rematch against the third-ranked Georgia Tech team of Paige Hourigan and Kenya Jones on Friday. The teams squared off two weeks ago in Athens in the semifinals of the ITA Southeast Regional. The Tech duo edged them 8-7(5).
Also, the Bulldog tandem of sophomore Elena Christofi and freshman Morgan Coppoc, ranked 34th nationally, defeated Veronia Miroshnichenko and Eva Marie Voracek (Loyola Marymount) 6-2,6-1 to advance. Up next, they face the third seed and 60th-ranked Duke pair of Kelly Chen and Samantha Harris.
“We played some of our best doubles of the fall today,” said Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace. “With two teams in the quarters, we have some big opportunities Friday.”
Jokic, seeded sixth in singles, saw her tournament run end in the round of 32 after 69th-ranked Emily Arbuthnott (Stanford) registered a 6-1,2-6,6-1 win. The Bulldog freshman is now 19-3 this fall. In consolation singles action, the Bulldogs went 1-1. Sophomore Marta Gonzalez, who is ranked No. 105, advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-2,6-4 victory over No. 41 Maria Kononova (North Texas). She is 16-4 on the year and will face 39th-ranked Petra Granic (Texas) on Friday. Christofi, ranked 10th, was upset by senior Gabby Smith (Southern California) 6-4,4-6,6-2.
Draws, schedule of play, daily recaps, and photo gallery links can be found on the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships event page, CLICK HERE. Fans can also follow the conversation on Twitter by following @ITA_Tennis and @OracleTennis and using the hashtag #ITAFallNats.
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