Nov. 8, 2013

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FLUSHING, N.Y. – Sophomores Megan Kurey and Kendal Woodardhave advanced to the semifinals of doubles main draw at the 2013 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships after defeating Virginia’s Julie Elbaba and Rachel Pierson, 8-5.

The #26-ranked pair of Kurey and Woodard were down 5-3 to fellow ACC opponents, Elbaba and Pierson. The tandem then put together five-straight points to win the match and advance to the semifinal round.

“It was a great Virginia team that we played today,” assistant coach Alison Silverio said. “They came out aggressive and firing on all cylinders. Megan and Kendal did a great job of staying in there. It was actually a 14 deuce game. The girls stayed in there, stayed tough and made plays happen to win. The match went to 5-4 and after that we didn’t lose a game.”

Kurey and Woodard will face USC’s #54 Guliana Olmos and Zoe Scandalis on Saturday. Olmos and Scandalis defeated #20 Jennifer Brady and Catherine Harrison of UCLA, the number one overall seed of the tournament, 8-4, to advance to the semifinals.

Play will begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. During the doubles semifinals, it will be the best of three sets.

“It was a hard fought match,” Kurey said. “We knew we needed to win the game at 5-3 to get the momentum swing. After that, we gained confidence and closed it out.”

“We are ecstatic about reaching the semifinals,” Woodard said. “We are looking forward to the opportunity to battle again tomorrow.”

The duo is 12-4 this fall season and own a 5-3 record against nationally ranked opponents.

“It was great to see them work through that together,” Silverio said. “They are a championship team they played championship tennis today. It was a great momentum boost into the semifinals where we will play a great USC team. We want to come out and have a little bit of a quicker start tomorrow. They are getting the chance to play in an electrifying atmosphere in NYC at a national tennis center where great champions have played.”

The USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships serves as the culmination of the fall season, showcasing elite players from every level of college tennis. Hosted by Columbia University, this prestigious event features a 32-player singles draw and a 20-team doubles draw for men and women.

Gaining automatic entry into the tournament are champions from the USTA/ITA Division I Regional Championships held across the country in October, winners of the USTA/ITA National Small College Super Bowl, and the consolation champions, doubles finalists, men’s singles quarterfinalists and women’s singles semifinalists from the ITA Men’s and Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships.

Kurey and Woodard won the first-ever regional doubles title for Georgia Tech’s women’s tennis after defeating #50 Lauren Herring and Maho Kowase of Georgia. The sophomore tandem cruised to an 8-2 victory to win the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Doubles title.

Follow the Georgia Tech women’s tennis blog as it follows Megan and Kendal’s trip here. Make sure to follow Coach Ali Silverio on Twitter, @GT_CoachAli, for exclusive information on the trip and throughout the season.

Fans are encouraged to follow Georgia Tech women’s tennis on Twitter, @GT_WTEN, and like the Yellow Jackets on Facebook, GTWomensTennis, for an inside look at the program.

–RamblinWreck.com