Georgia State's Kir Kemp fought off two match points before winning a third-set tiebreaker to give the Panthers a 4-3 victory over Tulane Saturday at Troy, Ala. GSU, ranked No. 70, remained unbeaten with its eighth straight victory.
With the overall match tied at 3-3, Kemp outlasted Emma Heliston at No. 5 singles, 6-3, 0-6, 7-6 (7-3). The junior from Atlanta also won in doubles to help the Panthers to victory.
Off to the best start in school history, the Panthers won the doubles point and got singles victories from Tereza Lerova and Abigail Tere-Apisah.
Kemp and Lerova, ranked 40th in the nation in doubles, earned an 8-5 victory at the No. 1 flight, and Tere-Apisah and Maryna Kozachenko won 8-3 at the No. 2 flight to give Georgia State the doubles point.
At No. 1 singles, Lerova downed Mariam Kurdadze, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), to extend the Panthers' lead to 2-0. Tulane earned its first point at No. 3 singles, and then Tere-Apisah answered with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Emma Levy at No. 2 singles to put GSU ahead, 3-1.
Tulane evened the match with three-set victories at the No. 4 and No. 6 flights to set up the deciding match for Kemp at No. 5 singles.
Tulane fell to 3-7 on the year.
Georgia State returns home to host Furman Mar. 5 at Piedmont Park.
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