May 13, 2007
ATHENS, Ga. -
The 31st ranked Auburn Tigers saw their run in the NCAA Tournament cut short by No. 2 Georgia, 4-0 on Sunday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The loss ends the Tigers' season with a 14-10 record overall, while the Bulldogs improved to 23-1.
Sunday's match marked the third time the two teams had met this season, with Auburn taking one of three, giving the Bulldogs their only loss of the season.
"Georgia is a great team and you have to give them credit," head coach Tim Gray said. "We battled with them step for step, but we just came up short today."
Doubles began with Fani Chifchieva and Heather Bybee dropping their No. 3 match to Natalie Frazier and Naoko Ueshima, 8-0. Georgia took the doubles point after Kelly Adams and Jil Hastenrath fell 8-2 to Monika Dancevic and Kelley Hyndman at the No. 2 position.
Trailing 1-0 heading to singles play, the Tigers couldn't turn the momentum in their favor. Georgia's Darya Ivanov, ranked 72nd in the country, took down Kelly Adams, 6-0, 6-2 at the fifth position, while Naoko Ueshima defeated Heather Bybee, 6-1, 6-0 at the sixth spot.
The Tigers continued to fight, but the match came to a close as No. 16 Fani Chifchieva was defeated by No. 7 Natalie Frazier, 6-2, 6-1.
Three members of Auburn's team still have tennis left to play this season. Auburn's Fani Chifchieva earned a singles bid to the 2007 NCAA Tennis Championships while the Tiger duo of Alex Haney and Melissa Koning received a doubles bid. Dates, times and opponents will be announced later this week.
Singles competition
1. #7 Natalie Frazier (UGA) def. #16 Fani Chifchieva (AU) 6-2, 6-1
2. #32 Monika Dancevic (UGA), vs. Alex Haney (AU) 7-5, 4-3
3. #68 Yvette Hyndman (UGA), vs. Melissa Koning (AU) 6-4, 3-6, 1-1
4. Kelley Hyndman (UGA) vs. Jil Hastenrath (AU), 6-3, 3-2
5. #72 Darya Ivanov (UGA) def. Kelly Adams, 6-0, 6-2
6. Naoko Ueshima (UGA) def. Heather Bybee (AU) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #13 Alex Haney/Melissa Koning (AU) vs. #7 Ivanov/Y. Hyndman (UGA), 6-4
2. K. Kyndman/Dancevic (UGA) def. Kelly Adams/Jil Hastenrath (AU), 8-2
3. Ueshima/Frazier (UGA) def. Heather Bybee/Fani Chifchieva (AU), 8-0