Atlanta, Ga.--The Georgia State women's tennis team dropped a 5-2 match to No. 13 Georgia Tech on Friday at the Bill Moore Tennis Center, but sophomore Abigail Tere-Apisah earned a win over nationally-ranked Jillian O'Neal at No. 1 singles.
Tere-Apisah fought off several match points to defeat the No. 44-ranked singles player in the nation, 7-6, 3-6, 7-5. Tere-Apisah faced two match points while down five games to two and five games to four. It's the sophomore's second victory in as many tries against a ranked opponent, and her third career victory over a ranked foe. The sophomore beat Wake Forest senior Kayla Duncan, the 93rd-ranked player in the ITA Women's Singles Rankings, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, in GSU's last match, a 4-3 win.
No. 54 Georgia State (2-1) fell behind early after dropping the doubles point to the Yellow Jackets. With Georgia Tech (2-1) leading 3-1, the Panthers rallied and forced third sets at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 singles matches. Victories in those matches would've secured a win for Georgia State, but Georgia Tech's Caroline Lilly defeated GSU senior Tereza Lerova 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 to secure the win.
Freshman Chaimaa Roudami notched the Panthers' first singles victory on the day with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 win at No. 6 singles over the Yellow Jackets' Alex Anghelescu. The doubles pair of freshman Masa Grgan and junior Martina Ondrackova earned a 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles over Georgia Tech's Christina Ngo and Muriel Wacker.
Georgia Tech head coach Bryan Shelton was impressed with the play of the Panthers.
""I thought Georgia State played really well today and I give them a lot of credit," said Shelton. "I think [head coach] Miha Lisac has done a tremendous job of putting a great squad together. Not only were they talented, but they competed like champs. They certainly pushed us to the limit. It's certainly the best Georgia State team I've seen in my 12 years at Georgia Tech. I was really proud of our team for hanging in there and staying tough."
The Panthers, led by Lisac in his fifth season, square off against No. 43 William & Mary at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the consolation match of the tournament. GSU and William & Mary met in last season's CAA Championship finals with the Tribe taking a 4-2 win from Georgia State. All matches are taking place at the Bill Moore Tennis Center on the campus of Georgia Tech.
Visit www.GeorgiaStateSports.com following tomorrow's match for a full recap plus a box score of GSU's first conference match of 2012.
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