Deacs Suffer Friday Setback at Georgia Tech

ATLANTA, GA – Playing out of state for the first time this month, No. 21 Wake Forest women's tennis (9-6, 1-3) made the trip to No. 33 Georgia Tech (9-4, 6-1) on Friday (March 18), ultimately falling in a 5-2 decision.

The Demon Deacons' streak against nationally-ranked foes continued, as Georgia Tech was the sixth such opponent faced in a row.

Wake Forest's standout doubles pairing of No. 76 Samantha Martinelli/Casie Wooten picked up what was arguably their most impressive win of the spring thus far, defeating No. 13 Ava Hrastar/Kylie Bilchev. The feat was the duo's first over a top-15 doubles opponent. Additionally, Wooten was one of two Deacs to take home a singles victory.

Sophomore Brooke Killingsworth totaled her fifth straight singles win, seizing control during the latter part of a two-set performance.

How it Happened

No. 76 Samantha Martinelli and Casie Wooten firstly leaped ahead 3-0 in second doubles.
- Saby Nihalani and Peyton Pesavento also started well on their own court, taking the first pair of games.
Down 3-0, No. 8 Anna Brylin/Brooke Killingsworth benefitted from their hustle play to win three consecutive games.
Martinelli and Wooten rallied back and forth with No. 13 Ava Hrastar/Kylie Bilchev of Georgia Tech to still stay in front, 4-2.
Things became more tightly-played by the minute on courts one and two, as the scoreboard read 4-4 for each of the doubles matchups.
- Nihalani and Pesavento soon found themselves in a 4-4 situation of their own.
Martinelli and Wooten hung on for a duo win, walking away with a 6-4 victory.
Georgia Tech won in first doubles, 7-5, as attention was turned to a 6-6 tie breaker on court three at the time.
The Yellow Jackets collected a 7-6 (3) finish in third doubles, taking the first point of the afternoon.
Brylin and Martinelli each went up 4-2 in their first singles set.
- Brylin and Killingsworth both gathered first-set wins, as the former escaped out of a tiebreaker while Killingsworth won 7-5 in fourth singles.
After falling in her opening frame, Wooten played tough to tie up the margin at 4-4 in the second set.
Georgia Tech bumped its lead to 3-0 after winning in first and fifth singles.
- The Yellow Jackets clinched the match in sixth singles, 4-0.
Killingsworth picked up a solo win for the Deacs, giving Wake Forest its first point.
Wooten chipped into the scoring column with another individual victory, having endured three challenging sets.
Wake Forest fell in a 5-2 decision.

Doubles Results

No. 12 Carol Lee/Kate Sharabura (GT) def. No. 8 Anna Brylin/Brooke Killingsworth (WF) 7-5
No. 76 Samantha Martinelli/Casie Wooten (WF) def. No. 13 Ava Hrastar/Kylie Bilchev (GT) 6-4
Gia Cohen/Ruth Marsh (GT) def. Saby Nihalani/Peyton Pesavento (WF) 7-6 (3)

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles Results

No. 77 Carol Lee (GT) def. No. 52 Carolyn Campana (WF) 6-3, 6-2
No. 74 Casie Wooten (WF) def. No. 90 Kylie Bilchev (GT) 1-6, 7-6 (5), 10-4
Ava Hrastar (GT) def. Anna Brylin (WF) 6-7 (7-4), 7-6 (6), 10-5
Brooke Killingsworth (WF) def. Mahak Jain (GT) 7-5, 6-3
Gia Cohen (GT) def. Samantha Martinelli (WF) 6-4, 6-3
Kate Sharabura (GT) def. Saby Nihalani (WF) 6-4, 7-5

Order of Finish: 5, 1, 6, 4, 2, 3

From the Head Honcho

"Tough match today," said head coach Jeff Wyshner. "We've got to be better on big points and late in sets in doubles. We showed a lot of effort in singles. It was tough losing the doubles point and missing one of our top three singles players, but we fought hard. I think we can play better than we have on some of these high-level matches. We'll see on Sunday at Clemson."

Up Next

Wake Forest finishes out weekend play on Sunday (March 20), visiting No. 62 Clemson for a 3 p.m. start time.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Anna Brylin

Carolyn Campana

Brooke Killingsworth

Samantha Martinelli

Saby Nihalani

Peyton Pesavento

Casie Wooten