Carol Lee beats No. 94 in WTA Tour

Lee

Georgia Tech’s Carol Lee beat NC State’s Diana Shnaider, 6-1, 6-3, last March 3 at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center in Raleigh, NC.

Shnaider is ranked No. 94 in the Women’s Tennis Association singles ranking and No. 280 in doubles, while Lee is unranked in both singles and doubles.

The former CNMI national tennis player said more than her abilities on the tennis court, it was mental fortitude that carried her to victory against the left-hander.

“It took a lot of belief and mentality to play against a strong opponent. It took not only me but my teammates and my coaches to keep cheering for me and their energy helped me get through this match so I’m always grateful for them,” she said.

The 21-year-old senior and alumnae of Saipan Community School said she used a bit of strategy—by taking notes of Shnaider’s tendences—to help her win the match.

“Hitting to her backhand side and then opening up the court to hit an aggressive shot to her forehand worked. Detecting the points and where her serve was going helped me as well,” she said.

Lee thanked her current and past coaches for making her the tennis player she is today. She especially extended her gratitude to her father, Dong Min Lee, for helping her come up with the strategy.

“To my past coaches, my current coaches, to my team, to my country and to my dad. My dad helped me analyze my opponent’s game before the match and gave me advice on how to play against my opponent,” she said.

While Lee topped Shnaider, the Yellow Jackets lost to the Wolfpack, 3-7.

According to ramblinwreck.com, the No. 19 Georgia Tech women’s tennis battled to the finish at No. 4 NC State, but dropped a tough 4-3 decision on Friday afternoon. Facing over an hour rain delay, the Yellow Jackets took a 2-1 lead in singles play, but couldn’t hold on, falling to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

NC State took the doubles point with a pair of 6-2 decisions on courts one and three. Shnaider and Alana Smith topped Kylie Bilchev and Alejandra Cruz on court one before the point was clinched on court three. Sophie Abrams and Abigail Rencheli grabbed an early lead over Lee and Rosie Garcia Gross and sealed the match, 6-2, giving NC State a 1-0 match lead.

Lee then quickly evened the match at 1-all, after collecting the aforementioned straight-set win on court one over Shnaider. Lee jumped out with a 4-1 lead in the first set, pocketing the opener, 6-1, and went up 4-2 in the second. The Jacket sealed the win, 6-3, to put Georgia Tech on the scoreboard and hand Shnaider her first loss of the spring season.

Mahak Jain gave Tech its first lead of the match, downing Abrams on court four in two sets. Leading 3-2 in the first set, Jain extended her lead to 5-2 and took the set, 6-3. Abrams looked to gain momentum in the second set, opening with a 3-0 advantage, but Jain rallied back, knotting the set at 3-all. Jain and Abrams exchanged the next two games for a 4-4 standstill before the Jacket won the next two games to take the match, 6-3, 6-4, and give Tech a 2-1 match lead.

NC State took the next three matches to regain the lead and clinch the match at 4-2. The Wolfpack knotted the match at 2-apiece when Gina Dittman pulled out a 7-5, 6-3 decision over Ruth Marsh on court six before Rencheli topped Garcia Gross on court five, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.

Rajecki clinched the match for NC State on court three. Facing Cruz, the opponents were on serve at 5-all in the first set. Cruz took a 6-5 lead, but Rajecki forced a tiebreak at 6-6. Cruz dominated the tiebreak, winning, 7-3, to take the set. But Rajecki battled back to win the next two sets to clinch the match, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3.

Bilchev wrapped up singles play, winning a three-set decision over Smith on court two. Tied at 2-2 to open, Bilchev went up a break at 4-2 and took the first set, 6-3. She battled to the wire in the second set as the opponents stood on serve at 5-all. Smith took the set in a tiebreak (7-4), to force a deciding third set. But Bilchev dominated the final set, 6-1, for her third ranked win in dual play.

The Yellow Jackets closed out this five-match road swing visiting No. 29 Wake Forest last Sunday, March 5.