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Griffith Earns Backdraw Crown at ITA Summer Circuit in Georgia

July 17, 2011

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By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com

ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - For the second-straight weekend, a member of the UCF women's tennis team captured a title on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Summer Circuit. Competing at the University of Georgia, sophomore Courtney Griffith (Johns Creek, Ga.) won five-straight matches to earn the backdraw crown Saturday.

At Florida State from July 8-10, Jenna Doerfler went 4-0 to bring home the overall singles title.

After dropping her first match in the round of 64, Griffith stormed through the consolation bracket. She first stayed alive with a 6-3, 6-3 decision over Tarah Garner of Lee College, then cruised by Kentucky's Meredith Marrow, 6-0, 6-3. Griffith's route to the finals grew tougher, but she pulled out a 6-3, 0-6, 1-0(1) win over Elon's Brianna Berne before knocking off Notre Dame's Katherine White, 0-6, 6-4, 1-0(9).

Another member of the Kentucky Wildcats awaited Griffith in the backdraw finals, where the UCF sophomore collected a 7-6, 6-2 triumph over Misha Testerman to cap off the weekend.

"Although I lost my first match, I still had a great opportunity to play many good players in the backdraw, and I took advantage of it," said Griffith. "In my third match I had the opportunity to play next to John Isner which inspired me to play at a higher level of tennis. After that match, I continued building up my confidence and tried to just have fun on the court."

Griffith helped guide UCF to a 12-8 dual-match record in 2011 by posting 12 singles wins and 11 victories on the doubles court as a freshman.