Carol unbeaten in singles

Carol Lee poses for an official team photo with the Georgia Tech women’s tennis team. (Georgia Tech Photo)

Carol Lee continues her impressive showing early into her rookie season with Georgia Tech in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I, as the CNMI player has yet to drop a singles game.

After a stellar debut against University of Mississippi that saw her pulling off a come-from-behind win in the doubles (with Gia Cohen) and sweeping Reka Zadori in the singles (6-3, 6-3), Lee capped the Yellow Jackets’ first road trip in the spring season with another straight set victory over University of Memphis’ Laura Bente yesterday in Starkville, Mississippi.

The 19-year-old topped Bente, 6-3, 6-3, to hand Georgia Tech its third singles win in the dual match with University of Memphis. The sweep over Bente gave Lee a 3-0 record in singles, as the Georgia Tech rookie also downed Mississippi State University’ Chloe Cirotte last Sunday (last Monday Saipan time), 6-0, 7-5.

Lee’s and her fellow rookies’ outstanding performance in the Bulldog Kickoff (against Mississippi State and University of Mississippi) and University of Memphis did not go unnoticed, as Yellow Jackets head coach Rodney Harmon praised his players.

“I felt like we played well this weekend. “We did what we needed to do today to get the win. I was very proud of our freshmen. They were first off the courts today and led us to victory,” Harmon was quoted as saying in Georgia Tech women’s tennis team’s official website.

“Our No. 1 doubles team dominated this weekend and I was very happy to see that. But we still have work to do. Overall, I’m happy with our matches and we’re looking forward to getting back home and competing again this upcoming weekend against some very competitive teams,” Harmon added.

The Yellow Jackets will bring home their 7-0 shutout record against University of Memphis, as besides Lee, the former’s five other entries in the singles event also won their respective matches. Kenya Jones topped Sophia Abrams; Ava Hrastar downed Aran Teixido Garcia; Victoria Flores defeated Alisha Reayer; Cohen edged Camile Soares; and Mahak Jain prevailed over Dolavee Tumthong.

Georgia Tech’s dual match had a 3-6 format (three doubles play and six singles) with only a point at stake in the doubles. The Yellow Jackets won two of the three games in the doubles and the sweep in the singles allowed them to blank the Tigers.

In the Bulldog Kickoff, Georgia Tech dominated University of Mississippi last Saturday, 8-2, and then edged Mississippi State University last Sunday, 7-5.

Lee played in the doubles (with fellow rookie Hrastar) against Mississippi State and lost an extended game, 5-7. The former CNMI junior player had another close loss in doubles (with Cohen) against University of Memphis, 5-7.

Meanwhile, after prevailing in its first three assignments, Georgia Tech braces for a tougher competition at home this weekend—the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff. The No. 12-ranked Yellow Jackets will face No. 6 Duke, No. 22 Michigan, and No. 14 South Carolina at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex on Jan. 23 and 24 with tickets on the ITA National Team Indoor Championships at stake.