Georgia's Gullickson reaches final, erases bad memory
ATHENS -- Thoughts of losing in last year's NCAA semifinals were always on Chelsey Gullickson's mind. Until Sunday, that defeat wouldn't give her a break.
The Georgia sophomore finally put the disappointment behind her, coming up with a better postseason memory when she pulled away from Stanford’s Hilary Barte and advanced to the singles final with a 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory at Henry Feild Stadium.
Gullickson is the first Georgia player to advance to the championship since Angela Lettiere won in 1994.
“This is huge; this a big deal,” Bulldogs coach Jeff Wallace said. “It’s well deserved because Chelsey is a great player, a great competitor.”
Gullickson, seeded 9 to 16, will meet California’s second-seeded Jana Juricova in Monday's 2 p.m. final. She is 2-0 in her career against Juricova, who knocked off Miami’s Laura Vallverdu 7-6 (6), 6-2 in the other semifinal.
However, Gullickson and partner Nadja Gilchrist lost their bid to reach the NCAA doubles final. Tennessee’s top-seeded team of Natalie Pluskota, who is from Coweta County, and Caitlin Whoriskey defeated them 6-1, 7-6 (11) in a semifinal match.
Barte took a 4-1 advantage in the first set, but Gullickson cut the lead to 4-3 and then tied it at 4-all. She won the first set when Barte hit the net in the tiebreaker.
Gullickson, the daughter of former major-league pitcher Bill Gullickson, controlled the second set with her serve and strong shot-making, going up 5-3 before putting Barte away with a backhanded winner on match point.
“I think I was a little nervous in the first set, but Hilary played a great match,” Gullickson said. “I knew coming out that she would give me a hard fight. I was just trying to stay focused throughout the whole match and stick to my game plan. She kind of gave me a hard time in the first set with her two set points and everything, but I just tried to stay consistent and just tried to break her down.”
Barte had been a busy player. This was her 16th match of the tournament. She had gone a combined 11-2 in singles and doubles, with two team matches not completed. Gullickson had more stamina.
“She’s obviously a great player and I know if I leave one sitting up it’s kind of lights out,” Barte said of the Georgia player.
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