Lady’Back tennis team rallies past Georgia to achieve 5th-straight conference win
Posted on Monday, March 24, 2008
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.
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