Yellow Jacket Roundup: March 4th, 2018

A weekly look into swimming and diving, track and field, cross country, softball, women’s basketball, tennis, volleyball, golf, and anything else we happen to see on campus.

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No. 3 Women’s Tennis

After losing the doubles point in an exhausting tiebreak, Paige Hourigan seized redemption by downing Rosie Johanson to clinch the match for Tech. Hourigan, who, along with Kenya Jones had lost to Johanson and Meghan Kelley in the deciding game of doubles play, had a tough match, but ultimately took the point in three sets. It was the first time Tech had lost the doubles point this year, and Tech moved to 8-1 on the season with the 4-3 win. Jones, Nami Otsuka, and Johnnise Renaud also won their singles games in the win.

Tech fared much better against the Louisville Cardinals on Sunday, sweeping their guests by a 7-0 margin. The Jackets only lost one set the entire game, and Hourigan, Jones, Otsduka, Renaud, Ida Jarlskog, and Nadia Gizdova all won their singles matches. The Jackets sit at 9-1 on the year and look strong in their first weekend of conference play.

This Week: Tech heads to the Windy City to face the strong Northwestern Wildcats in a Friday afternoon matchup.

Men’s Tennis

Under the encroaching darkness, Tech snuck by Miami 4-3 for their first conference win of the season. The Jackets took the doubles point in fairly straightforward games, featuring solid wins by Elijah Melendez/Daniel Yun and Michael Kay/Carlos Divar. However, the singles were hard-fought, with Yun, Kay, and Andrew Li winning their matches, and Divar, Melendez, Philip Gresk, coming a few breaks from victory themselves.

On Saturday, it came down to the third set of the sixth and final singles match to determine the winner against crosstown foe Georgia State, with Yun continuing his excellent weekend by securing Tech’s 4-3 victory over State. Kay, Divar, Gresk, and Yun all won matches to cap a strong victory for the Jackets, who now sit at 5-7 on the season.

This Week: The Jackets are off for two weeks before continuing ACC play.

No. 25 (Men) / NR (Women) Swimming and Diving

Tech swam in both the TYR Pro Swim Series at home in the McAuley Aquatic Center and the American Short Course Championships in Austin this weekend.
At home in Atlanta, Tech had a number of notable swims. On Thursday, the first day of competition, Tech’s best swim was Kristen Hepler’s 200 Breaststroke. She turned in a time of 2:36.49 swimming in the B-final, good for 14th in the event. Four more Jackets earned finals appearances on the second day, with Caroline Lee winning the C-final in the 200 backstroke. Tech’s best showing was on the final day, with Emily Ilgenfritz, Catriona MacGregor, Tamir Gonen, Alexandra Nilsson, Hepler, Clay Hering, Colt Williamson, Brennan Day, and Leon Warnakulasuriya all earning second swims. Ilgenfritz and Hering secured the top spots for the Jackets, taking 11th in the 400 Freestyle and ninth in the 200 Butterfly, respectively.
Meanwhile, in Austin, Rodrigo Correia and Christian Ferraro had a fantastic meet, with each swimming excellently. Most notably, Ferraro demolished the 200 Butterfly record on his way to securing a guaranteed swim at the NCAA Championships with an A-cut in the event. Each swim for the Jackets in Austin was at least a B-cut, and both improved their likelihood of being invited to Minneapolis in more events than Ferraro’s stellar 200 Butterfly.

This Week: NCAA Zone Diving Championships in Knoxville.

Softball

Wednesday, February 28th: Georgia Tech (7 - 6) shuts out Kennesaw State (4 - 6), 9-0.

Friday, March 2nd: Georgia Tech (8 - 6) outlasts DePaul (11 - 4), 2-1.

Friday, March 2nd: DePaul (12 - 4) strikes back against Georgia Tech (8 - 7), 8-2.

Saturday, March 3rd: Georgia Tech (9 - 7) blanks UConn (7 - 10), 5-0.

Saturday, March 3rd: Georgia Tech (10 - 7) defeats UConn (7 - 11), 3-2.

Sunday, March 4th: Georgia Tech (11 - 7) overcomes Detroit-Mercy (3 - 11), 8-6.

Georgia Tech plays a lot of softball in non-conference play:

• Tech led off the week with their third run-rule win of the season, topping Kennesaw State 9-0 after just five innings of play. Singles by Breanna Roper and Rebecca Prairie, followed by a Katie Krzus walk, loaded the bases for a two-run error on a hard hit to the right side by Crosby Huckabay. A wild pitch, a single, and an error led to three more runs before Roper singled again, scoring the sixth run of the frame. Things didn’t get much better for the Owls, when Huckabay’s solo shot to center made the game 9-0, ending the game after the visitor’s fifth inning.
• Kaylee Ellebracht’s solo home run in the tenth ended a lot of free softball at Mewborn Field, the first run scored since Kelsey Chisholm’s double in the fifth inning tied the score at 1. Emily Anderson pitched a complete game and survived three Jacket fielding errors to come away with a great win.
• The Jackets didn’t fare quite as well in the second game, with DePaul taking an early 2-0 lead. A Krzus single in the third and a Cameron Stanford double in the fourth tied the game at two runs apiece. However, Tech couldn’t hold on as the Blue Demons scored four off of Stanford and added two more in the seventh, splitting the doubleheader.
• Tech cruised to another shoutout win in the opener against UConn on Saturday. A Huckabay walk in the first, a Stanford fielders choice in the second, followed by a wild pitch allowing her to score, promptly made the margin 3-0 in favor of the home team. A Krzus single and Ellebracht’s second home run of the weekend provided the rest of the score as Anderson again pitched a complete game for the win.
• The Jackets struck first in the second game, with two home runs, one each by Stanford and Sonnon, and a bizarre Lily Hooper walk followed by three wild pitches, accounted for all of Tech’s scoring. The Huskies made it interesting, tacking on two unearned runs to their tally, but Tech was able to hold on for another win.
• There was a lot of character built in Tech’s gritty comeback from a 5-0 deficit to knock off Detroit on Sunday. Overall Tech had a lot of errors this weekend, which would ideally be cleaned up before heading into the tougher parts of the schedule in the next few weeks, and Sunday’s game was no different. Down 5-0 in the second, Tech finally started their return with a solo home run by Prairie. They added three in the third, again catalyzed by Prairie. Huckabay and Ellebracht kept the order moving, scoring Prairie, and Roper hit into an error that scored another. A sac fly by Stanford allowed Tech to add one more in the frame, which they ended trailing 5-4. Detroit added another unearned run, making the score 6-4, before Tech scored four unanswered runs to win the game. In the sixth, with two out, Roper singled and Stanford walked before Sonnon doubled in the freshman. Krzus knocked in two with a single before scoring the eighth run on a Saige Pye single, where the score remained.

This week: It gets real fast for the Jackets, who head to Clarke County to face the School out East before opening ACC play on the road at Virginia.

Women’s Basketball

Wednesday, February 28th: Georgia Tech (18 - 12) vanquishes Clemson (11 - 19), 61-52.

Thursday, March 1st: Virginia (18 - 12) storms back to defeat Georgia Tech (18 - 13), 60-58.

Francesca Pan led the way for the Jackets with 18 points on the day. Kierra Fletcher and Elo Edeferioka also found their way to the basket often, finishing with twelve and ten points, respectively. As a team, Tech defeated the Tigers for the third time this season in a very streaky game of momentum shifts. In the end, Tech outlasted one final Clemson push to take the game by a six point margin. The Jackets led by as many as fifteen, which is the same number of points Tech scored off of Clemson turnovers in the game.

Tech led almost the entire game before falling to the Cavaliers in the waning moments of Thursday’s game in the quarterfinals of the ACC championship tournament. Pan again led the way with 25 points in the second game of the tournament. Despite this impressive performance, Tech saw a nine point lead evaporate on back-to-back threes as Virginia outmuscled Tech in the fourth quarter. Fletcher, who notably snagged seven rebounds, scored Tech’s final five points, but it wasn’t enough as Tech fell to the Cavaliers.

This Week: Tech’s postseason potential waits in the balance to find if they return to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.

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For men’s basketball coverage: Tech won their last two at home against North Carolina State and Wake Forest.

For baseball coverage: Baseball pushed their win streak to seven with wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and two against University of Illinois-Chicago before dropping the Sunday matinee against the Flames, 12-5.

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This Week on the Flats:

BOLD for home, REGULAR for away, ITALIC for time and location

Monday:
Diving @ NCAA Zone Diving Championships
All day, Knoxville, TN

Tuesday:
Diving @ NCAA Zone Diving Championships
All day, Knoxville, TN
Men’s Basketball vs. Boston College (ACC Tournament)
12:00 PM, Brooklyn, NY, ESPN2
Softball @ georgie
6:00 PM, Athens, GA, SEC Network Plus

Wednesday:
Diving @ NCAA Zone Diving Championships
All day, Knoxville, TN
Baseball @ Georgia State
5:00 PM, Atlanta, GA, WREK 91.1

Thursday: OFF

Friday:
Track and Field @ NCAA Indoor National Championships
All day, College Station, TX
Women’s Tennis @ Northwestern
3:30 PM ET, Evanston, IL
Softball @ Virginia
6:00 PM, Charlottesville, VA, ACC Network Extra
Baseball @ Clemson
6:30 PM, Clemson, SC, ACC Network Extra

Saturday:
Track and Field @ NCAA Indoor National Championships
All day, College Station, TX
Golf @ General Hacker Championship
All day, Myrtle Beach, SC
Softball @ Virginia
1:00 PM, Charlottesville, VA, ACC Network Extra
Baseball @ Clemson
4:00 PM, Clemson, SC, ACC Network Extra

Sunday:
Golf @ General Hacker Championship
All day, Myrtle Beach, SC
Softball @ Virginia
12:00 PM, Charlottesville, VA, ACC Network Extra
Baseball @ Clemson
1:00 PM, Clemson, SC, ACC Network Extra