Griffith Earns Backdraw Crown at ITA Summer Circuit in GeorgiaGriffith Earns Backdraw Crown at ITA Summer Circuit in Georgia

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.