One was a senior playing the final home match of a championship career. The other was a freshman never before tested in NCAA tournament play.

Georgia Tech's Whitney McCray and Noelle Hickey weren't having a good time. They trailed 6-1 in a doubles set that would go to the first team that reached eight games with a two-game lead.

"We both just looked at each other and we were like, 'We've had enough. It's time to play,' " Hickey said. "We got the momentum going, and then we were off and rolling. We just got it together, and we started playing really, really well."

Tech won five consecutive games to tie Tennessee's Ghizela Schutte and Rosalia Alda at 6-6, but the test was far from finished. McCray double-faulted. Twice. She slammed her racket to the court as Tennessee broke her serve. The Lady Vols, ranked 25th in the nation, would serve for the set. They'd already won at No. 1 doubles. If they held serve, they'd get the doubles point and a major psychological advantage against the No. 3-ranked Yellow Jackets in Saturday's second-round NCAA tournament match.

It didn't happen. McCray and Hickey not only broke serve right back, they did it at love. A couple of games later, McCray hit a beautiful passing shot at deuce, then won the doubles point with a slam for a 9-7 victory.

Tech went on to win the match 4-0 and advance to the round of 16 at Tulsa, Okla. The defending national champions face Florida State or Texas on Thursday evening.

Tech has lost only one singles set through its first two tournament matches, against Alcorn State and Tennessee. That came Saturday at No. 5 singles, where Kirsten Flower dropped a set to Zsofia Zubor before winning the next set at love.

Aside from that, the Jackets were so strong the only drama in singles was the race to see who would finish before a teammate clinched the match. Amanda McDowell, Christy Striplin and Hickey all won. McCray and Kristi Miller both led 5-4 in the second set when Hickey finished off Alda at No. 6 singles.

The key, though, is what McCray and Hickey did in doubles. It clearly deflated Tennessee.

"Every time you win a doubles point, you put a lot of pressure on the opponent," Tech coach Bryan Shelton said. "We're so deep. We've got six players I feel confident with when we go out and play singles, and that's very intimidating for teams that lose the doubles point against us."

At the end, with the other two doubles sets finished, everyone was staring at McCray and Hickey.

"You try not to freak out if you can help it," McCray said. "El and I knew that it was all on our racket. It's a little nerve-racking."