Carol, Georgia Tech reach Round of 16

Georgia Tech’s Carol Lee makes a baseline return to North Carolina’s Makenna Jones in the finals of the ACC Tournament at the Rome Tennis Center in Georgia last month. (Georgia Tech Photo)

The CNMI’s Carol Lee continues to have a notable rookie season in the collegiate ranks, as she joined Georgia Tech in the 2021 NCAA DI Women’s Tennis Championships.

Lee and the Yellow Jackets swept their first two opponents last weekend to make it to the Round of 16 of the season-ending team tournament in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s tennis event.

Georgia Tech first dominated Georgia Southern, 5-0, last Friday (Saturday on Saipan) at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta. Lee played both in the singles and doubles events in their duel against Georgia Southern, teaming up with Monika Dedaj in whipping Elizabeth Goines and Sonja Keranen, 6-0. Lee and Dedaj handed the Yellow Jackets the first doubles win and Georgia Tech took the outright victory and one point in the event after Ava Hrastar and Gia Cohen defeated Nadja Meier and Paula Boixader, 6-4. With the win secured, Kenya Jones and Victoria Flores, who were ahead of Diemen and Sophie Wagemaker, 5-3, did not finish the third doubles game.

In singles play, Lee also played and won in the first set against Paula Hijos and was leading at 3-2 in the second set, when the game was stopped, as Georgia Tech had already completed the sweep following Cohen’s 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Charlotte van Diemen. Mahak Jain, Jones, and Hrastar gave the Yellow Jackets their first three victories in singles play after prevailing against Goines, 6-0, 6-0, Meier, 6-1, 6-4, and Mila Hartig, 6-3, 6-2, respectively. Flores also played in the singles and was winning, 6-3, 4-3, when the game was called off.

After shutting down the Eagles, Lee and company returned to the Ken Byers Tennis Complex and picked up where they left off following a 4-0 win over the University of North Florida.

Lee played at No. 5 in the singles event versus North Florida and was one point away from sweeping Annabelle Davis, 6-1, 5-2, when the match was halted as Georgia Tech had already secured the victory when Flores outclassed Catherine Gulihur in the No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-2.

With their back-to-back wins, Lee and the Yellow Jackets will make its 11th appearance to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Championships. Next up for the No. 13 Georgia Tech is No. 4 UCLA and they will play on May 16 (May 17 Saipan time) at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.

Before competing in the NCAA Championships, the Yellow Jackets reached the finals of the ACC Tournament, but lost to No. 1 North Carolina. Lee recorded the lone victory for Georgia Tech after crushing Makenna Jones, 6-1, 6-1.