Mississippi State
NCAA Individual Championships
Lee, Patrasc Win NCAA Singles Openers; Harrison/Vozniak To Open Doubles
May 25, 2016 | Women's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. – Each in their second appearances in the NCAA Singles Championship, Mississippi State women's tennis junior Jasmine Lee and senior Georgiana Patrasc posted straight-set victories Wednesday to advance to Thursday's NCAA Round of 32 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
With those pair of Bulldog wins, it marks the first time in program history that two MSU players have advanced to the second round of NCAA Women's Singles in the same year.
The 6-4, 6-0 victory for the 36th-ranked Patrasc over Florida State's 38th-ranked Daneika Borthwick will pit the fourth-year senior against 9-16 seeded and 12th-ranked Julia Elbaba of Virginia on Thursday at 9 a.m. CT. Patrasc was able to fight past Borthwick in the first set 6-4 on Wednesday before impressively controlling the entire second set for the win.
State's first singles ITA All-American in the 13th-ranked Lee followed later in the day with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph against Long Beach State's No. 102 Maeva Razakasoa to advance to the round of 32 for the second year in a row. Lee will face either Duke's 55th-ranked Kaitlyn McCarthy or Wake Forest's 64th-ranked Kimmy Guerin in Thursday's second round at Noon CT.
"Georgiana and Jasmine did a good job in very windy conditions today," head coach Daryl Greenan said. "Georgiana started off the day right for us. She handled adversity and played a high level to get her first NCAA Tournament win over a very tough opponent. Then Jasmine managed to stay focused enough to counter everything her opponent did in these tricky conditions."
Patrasc's Thursday opponent, Elbaba, earned her way to the second round after holding off Kentucky's 29th-ranked Aldila Sutjiadi 6-2, 6-4, in the opening round Wednesday. Patrasc and Elbaba have never met. If the State veteran manufactures a win, she will earn ITA All-America status in singles.
Lee has never faced either of her possible foes in McCarthy and Guerin, who were locked in a tight three-set, first-round battle late Wednesday in Tulsa.
MSU's tandem of 30th-ranked Madison Harrison and Kristina Vozniak will also make their debut in the 2016 NCAA Doubles Championship on Thursday. The duo will face Northwestern's 28th-ranked team of Alex Chatt and Maddie Lipp in the first round at 2 p.m. CT.
The Bulldog pair is 6-6 this season with three top 40 victories. Both players will be making their debut in the NCAA Individual Championships.
For more information on the Mississippi State women's tennis program, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateWT.
MSU In The NCAA Individual Championships - May 25, 2016
Michael D. Case Tennis Center – Tulsa, Okla.
SINGLES
First Round – No. 36 Georgiana Patrasc (MSU) def. No. 38 Daneika Borthwick (Florida State) 6-4, 6-0; No. 13 Jasmine Lee (MSU) [9-16] def. No. 102 Maeva Razakasoa (Long Beach State) 6-2, 6-3.
ITA National Rankings precede player names
NCAA seedings in brackets
