Wreck Ramblin

Women's sports 01MAR07

Monika Dancevic outlasted Christy Striplin in a third-set tiebreaker at No. 2 singles to clinch 12th-ranked Georgia's 5-2 victory over No. 6 Georgia Tech Wednesday at the Dan Magill Tennis Center in Athens. [GT AA] [GA AA]

Junior Whitney Humphreys (6-1) tossed her second complete-game shutout in the opener, scattering three hits and striking out three and junior Brittany Barnes homered twice in the nightcap sparking a four-run seventh inning to lead No. 21 Georgia Tech (15-2) to a sweep over Chattanooga (7-9), 8-0 (6) and 6-5, on Wednesday at Glenn Field. [GT AA]

For the third straight year, Tech (19-10, 9-5) will face Miami in the first round. The No. 6-seeded Jackets meet No. 11 seed Miami at 8 p.m. today with the winner to face No. 3 seed Maryland. Tech has already beaten Miami twice and upset Maryland, then ranked No. 4, on Feb. 1. [KR, AJC]

The AJC's Karen Rosen rates the  ACC  teams.

Janie Mitchell has her own style. Georgia Tech's 6-foot junior forward turns heads on the court when she outmaneuvers her defenders and off the court with her flair for fashion. [KR, AJC]

Softball 2-0 in NFCA Leadoff Classic

Senior Caitlin Lever set a new school single-game record with five hits, going 5-for-5, with a home run and four runs batted in, and junior Savannah Brown went 2-for-4, with two RBIs, to lead Georgia Tech (9-1) past No. 16 Baylor (12-3), 10-7, on Friday at the NFCA Leadoff Classic.

[CSTV]

Sophomore Tiffany Johnson (2-1) came into the game in relief and retired the first nine batters she faced, striking out 10 in the game and allowed just one hit, while junior Brittany Barnes smacked a three-run home run to lead Georgia Tech (10-1) over DePaul (5-3), 8-3, on Friday night at the NFCA Leadoff Classic.

With the win, the Yellow Jackets push their winning streak to eight and have homered in all 11 games so far this season. Junior Aileen Morales drove in the game-winning run with a triple, finishing 2-for-4. Junior Savannah Brown was a perfect 2-for-2, with a double and RBI.

The Yellow Jackets will face No. 24 Massachusetts at 10:30 a.m. and No. 19 Florida at 1 p.m. on Saturday to round out pool play. The games can be followed on www.ramblinwreck.com.

[GTAA]

Softballers lose one, win one

[LINK] GT AA

Despite out-hitting Michigan State (9-3), 8-6, Georgia Tech (17-5) dropped a 3-2 decision to the Spartans in the opening game of the USF adidas Invitational on Thursday afternoon at the EC Moore Complex. Freshman Whitney Haller led Tech offensively, going 2-for-4, with a home run (10) and two runs batted in.

MSU snapped Tech's 11-game winning streak.  Sophomore Aileen Morales finished 2-for-4, with one stolen base.  Freshman Lacey Richardson (3-2) took the loss, throwing 3.1 innings, allowing three runs and two earned runs.

[LINK] GT AA

Sophomore Savannah Brown blasted a three-run home run and junior Sarah Wood (5-1) worked all seven innings to lead Georgia Tech (18-5) past South Florida (12-12), 7-6, in the USF adidas Invitational on Thursday night.

Softballers compete in USF Adidas International

[LINK] GT AA

The Georgia Tech softball team (17-4) will put its 11-game winning streak on the line this Thursday as the Yellow Jackets travel to Clearwater, Fla., for the USF adidas Invitational, March 9-12. Tech will open tournament play against Michigan State (1 p.m.) and South Florida (6 p.m.) on Thursday.

Tech will face Michigan State, Wright State, Long Island, Boston University and USF in pool play.

#15 Women's Tennis blanks #12 Vandy, 7-0

[LINK] GT AA

Whitney McCray teamed with Kelly Anderson to clinch the doubles point and then won in straight sets in singles to lead No. 15 Georgia Tech (8-2) to just its second victory against No. 12 Vanderbilt (10-2) in 10 matches between the two schools, 7-0.

#3 Women's tennis hosts #15 Vandy

The third-ranked Georgia Tech women's tennis team, 7-2 on the season following a 4-3 loss to No. 6 Northwestern this past Saturday, looks to rebound this Tuesday when they host the 15th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores at 2 p.m.

Softballers win first Buzz Classic

[LINK] GT AA

Senior Christine Sheridan was named most valuable player after going 6-for-10 in three games, with three doubles and two runs batted in, to lead Georgia Tech (17-4) to three wins on Sunday to claim its first ever Buzz Classic Championship with wins over South Dakota State (5-5), 8-1, Radford (11-6), 6-4, and NC State (15-7), 7-1, at Al Bishop Softball Complex.

The Yellow Jackets will travel Clearwater, Fla., for the USF adidas Invitational, March 9-12. Tech will face Michigan State at 1 p.m. and South Florida at 6 p.m.

Softballers topple UTEP, 10-1

[LINK] GT AA

Senior Christine Sheridan went 2-for-3 with a home run and three runs batted in and freshman Lacey Richardson (3-1) worked all five innings, allowing two hits and struck out a career-high seven to lead Georgia Tech (14-4) past UTEP, 10-1 (5), in the first round of bracket play in the Atlanta Buzz Classic Tournament at Al Bishop Softball Complex.

Tech will play the winner of No. 5 seed Wisconsin and No. 12 seed South Dakota State on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. in the quarterfinals. For a complete list of teams and schedule information, go to Tournament Central.

Women fall to Maryland in ACC quarterfinals

[LINK] GT AA

Freshman Marissa Coleman assisted on the go-ahead 3-pointer and scored Maryland's last six points to help the fourth-ranked Terrapins hold off Georgia Tech 71-66 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament on Friday night.

Coleman finished with 13 points for Maryland (27-3), which advanced to Saturday's semifinals to face.

Good effort, hanging in with the #4 team until the last two minutes. Maybe we'll turn the corner next year.

Tech's women's team has never finished over .500 in league play.

Lady Jackets crush Canes in ACCT

[LINK] GT AA

Stephanie Higgs scored a game-high 22 points, 10 of which came from the free-throw line, to lead Georgia Tech (14-14) to its first ACC Tournament victory in three years with a 79-62 win over Miami (16-12) Thursday night at the Greensboro Coliseum.

"It's just a special win for my team," said Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph. "I'm just really happy for them. We've had highs and lows this year and we have had some struggles of late. But deep down, we know that we are a good team and we know that we can compete with anybody."

With the victory, the Jackets advance to face third-seeded and fourth-ranked Maryland in the quarterfinals Friday at 9:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast by the Regional Sports Network, which includes FSN South, Comcast SportsNet, Sun Sports and the New England Sports Network.

See bracket and other results at the Women's ACC Tournament Central.