The Georgia Gwinnett College women's tennis team took another step toward preparing for postseason play with a hard-fought 6-1 home win against NCAA Division III perennial power Emory University (Georgia) Friday afternoon at the GGC Tennis Facility.

The Grizzlies (17-0) needed a pair of rallies in matches to grab the doubles point.

Freshmen Ale Ferrer and Iryna Lysykh rallied from a 5-2 deficit to win the last five games on the No. 3 court to even the doubles action after Emory (3-2) registered a 6-3 triumph at the top of the lineup.

The opening point came down to a tiebreaker on the No. 2 court. Junior Maria Genovese and freshman Eva Siska came back from a 5-4 deficit to force a tiebreaker, which they won by a 7-3 score.

GGC carried the winning ways into singles, capturing the first set in five of the six matches. Freshman Selina Pichler recorded a 6-0, 6-1 victory on the No. 3 court and classmate Marta Maestro was also victorious in 12 of the 13 games at No. 6 singles. Those victories gave the hosts a commanding 3-0 lead.

Then, Genovese recorded a hard-fought victory on the No. 1 court to clinch the dual match victory. She won the opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-5, before closing out the match with a 6-3 score in the second set.

Moments later, sophomore Tereza Koplova won a marathon three-set match at No. 2 singles, defeating Christina Watson 6-4 in the deciding third set. Koplova forced the deciding set with a 6-1 triumph in the second set.

Ferrer rounded out GGC's winners with a three-set triumph on the No. 5 court, coming out on top of the final set by a 7-5 score. Lysykh lost a third-set tiebreaker in another lengthy singles match on the No. 4 court.

Prior to the match, the Grizzlies honored Emerald Able on Senior Day for her contributions to the program from 2017-21. She has helped the Grizzlies win NAIA national championships in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

 

Grizzly of the Day: Senior Emerald Able on Senior Day vs. Emory (Ga.)#GGCAthletics pic.twitter.com/raM1xwZ0fa

— GGC Tennis (@GGC_Tennis) April 16, 2021

  "Emory has a good team and I thought we played extremely well across the board. We were on the ropes in doubles and fought back in two matches. Then, wins by Selina and Marta gave us two quick singles points. There were several competitive matches. That was great preparation for the upcoming NAIA championships," said Head Coach Chase Hodges.
  Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host No. 23 Brenau University (Georgia) on Wednesday, April 21, at 2 p.m. from the GGC Tennis Facility.