February 9, 2003

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech women's tennis team had to rely on depth at the bottom of the lineup and an amazing comeback from Ginger Lowdermilk to upset No. 66 Middle Tennessee State 4-3 Sunday afternoon at the Burrows/Burleson Tennis Center on the Virginia Tech campus. Tech improved to 9-0 on the year with the win.

After squeaking out the doubles point, the Hokies found themselves trailing 3-2 in the match with the two remaining matches headed into a third set. Zdenka Videnova (Sr., Skopje, Macedonia) managed to level the team score at 3-3 with a 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 win at No. 5 over Laura McNamara setting the stage for Lowdermilk's heroics.

Lowdermilk (Jr., Bossier City, La.) dropped the first set 6-1 but rallied to level the match with a 6-3 win in the second set. However, she found herself down two match points at 5-2, 40-15 in the third set before rallying for a 7-5 victory. Tech's other singles win occurred at No. 6 as Felice Lam (So., Seattle, Wash.) defeated Emily Vest 6-3, 6-2.

Tech dropped the top three singles matches as Kristen Stubbs (Sr., Hilton Head, S.C.) lost 6-3, 6-3 to 56th-ranked Manon Kruse in the No. 1 event and Carolyn Kramer (Manchester, Mo.) fell 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 against Jennifer Klaschka. Elissa Kinard (So., Charleston, S.C.) lost 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3 to Emily Venter.

The Hokies pulled out the hotly-contested doubles point as Lowdermilk/Stubbs won 8-6 over McNamara/Venter at No. 2 and Lam/Videnova picked up an 8-6 win at No. 3 against Klaschka/Vest. Kinard/Kramer lost 8-6 in the No. 1 match to Kruse/Varnell.

"I am so proud of our effort today," said Tech head coach Lisa Hart. "Everyone fought extremely hard and I'm proud of the way we persevered and took care of business. Ginger (Lowdermilk) and Zdenka (Videnova) showed amazing heart today in their third sets to help us to victory."

The Hokies take to road for the first time this season on Fri., Feb. 14 for a match at No. 19 Notre Dame.

Virginia Tech 4, No. 66 Middle Tennessee State 3

Singles
1. #56 Manon Kruse (MTSU) def. Kristen Stubbs (VT) 6-3, 6-3
2. Jennifer Klaschka (MTSU) def. Carolyn Kramer (VT) 6-1, 6-3
3. Carien Venter (MTSU) def. Elissa Kinard (VT) 6-1, 6-3
4. Ginger Lowdermilk (VT) def. Stacy Varnell (MTSU) 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 *
5. Zdenka Videnova (VT) def. Laura McNamara (MTSU) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
6. Felice Lam (VT) def. Emily Vest (MTSU) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
1. Kruse/Varnell (MTSU) def. Kinard/Kramer (VT) 8-6
2. Lowdermilk/Stubbs (VT) def. McNamara/Venter (MTSU) 8-6
3. Lam/Videnova (VT) def. Klaschka/Vest (MTSU) 8-6

*clinching point