June 5, 2014
THE FLATS – Rising juniors Megan Kurey and Kendal Woodard of the Georgia Tech women’s tennis team have been named to the 2014 ITA All-America team.
“I am very proud of both Kendal and Megan for having such a great year, working so hard and competing so well,” head coach Rodney Harmon said. “Even though the year didn’t end up the way we really wanted it to for them, they had so many great successes throughout the year, including winning the ITA Southeast regional and being the team that got to go to the NCAA Doubles Championship.”
Kurey and Woodard are the third Georgia Tech doubles duo to have earned All-America distinction. They are the first Jackets to earn the recognition since Jillian O’Neill was named an All-American in 2012 in singles. Kurey and Woodard are the seventh and eighth student-athletes to be named All-America in the history of the program.
“Their successful season also included winning the National Indoor title, winning a big match for us against Duke, a big match against Notre Dame and a lot of good matches against some really good teams we played against,” Harmon said. “I’m pleased for them and I look forward to this next season with both of them as juniors. I look forward to them coming back and getting ready for another big year.”
The duo finished out the season ranked as the #7 doubles team in the nation. Kurey and Woodard earned a bid to the NCAA Doubles Championship in 2014 and were named the six seed. The pair fell to Sofie Oyen and Belinda Woolcock of Florida in the first round of the doubles championship. Woodard was named First Team All-ACC this season while Kurey garnered All-ACC second team honors.
Tech’s No. 1 doubles pair produced a 13-7 record this spring and defeated 10 nationally ranked foes. Kurey and Woodard are 5-5 in their last 10 matches. Overall, Kurey and Woodard are 27-11.
The tandem had an exciting fall garnering some major hardware. In October, Kurey and Woodard defeated Georgia’s Lauren Herrin and Maho Kowase at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex to win the ITA/USTA Southeast doubles title and punch their ticket to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. Kurey and Woodard made Georgia Tech history by winning the 2013 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships doubles title. Kurey and Woodard captured the national indoor doubles title on Nov. 10, 2013 after defeating Louisville’s Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine in the championship match.
A doubles team must meet any of the following criteria to earn ITA All-American honors – top eight seed in NCAA Doubles Championship; reach quarterfinals in NCAA Doubles Championship; finish in the Top 10 of final ITA National Doubles Rankings.
–RamblinWreck.com–
