March 31, 2011
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech women’s tennis team will return to Atlanta for a pair of key ACC matches this weekend against No. 28 Maryland, 2 p.m. Friday, and No. 39 Boston College, Sunday at noon.
Both matches are free and open to the public and will be played at the Bill Moore Tennis Center on the Georgia Tech campus.
“Maryland and Boston College are definitely teams we can’t look past,” assistant coach Alison Silverio said. “They are both having good seasons and are talented teams. We’ve been talking all season about taking care of the things that we can control like our attitude, our footwork, our energy, our enthusiasm on the court and really being all in as a team. As long as we stay all in, and we’re competing, we control that, our chances to win are great.”
The Yellow Jackets are riding a current four-match winning streak and defeated No. 19 Notre Dame, 5-2, No. 32 NC State, 4-3, and No. 48 Wake Forest, 6-1, last week to improve to 10-5 this season and 3-2 in league play. The wins also helped Tech make a significant jump in the rankings from 20th last week to No. 11 this week.
“It comes down to what we’ve talked about all season which is getting better and developing each and every day, whether we’re in practice or a match,” Silverio said. “I think for our girls, it’s keeping it in perspective. Yes, we’ve won four in a row, but we still have six regular season matches, plus the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament. I think having the mindset of bringing your best day in and day out, if we continue to do that, we’ll be successful.”
The Terrapins are currently 11-4 overall but only 1-3 in ACC play, while the Eagles are 7-8 in all matches and 2-2 in league play. Boston College will play at No. 15 Clemson on Saturday before heading to Atlanta.
“I think the doubles point this whole season has been huge for us, and we’ve done very well with that recently,” Silverio said. “We’re playing confident doubles, we’re playing aggressive doubles. Coming out strong in doubles against Maryland will be important. It’s only one point, but it’s a very important point and it can set the tone for the matchup. Maryland is strong all the way through their lineup. Our team needs to come out with the mindset that we can out compete with anyone, and find our opponents breaking point. If we do that we can be successful.
“We need to come out aggressive and confident in the doubles and set the tone against BC too,” Silverio added. “For both matches, they’re coming to our home. I think its exciting to be playing at home to really represent your school, the team and the program at home.
With only three weekends remaining in the regular season, the Jackets are currently in a three way tie for fourth with Virginia and Clemson. Of the five other teams ahead of or tied with Tech, the Yellow Jackets still have to face three – Duke, North Carolina and Virginia.
“For us, it’s very important to keep the momentum going,” Silverio added. “With momentum comes confidence. I think confidence breeds success, especially for tennis players and our team. The girls get confidence not only from winning, but the preparation we’ve done in practice and in the weight room. Our momentum has not only been built with these last four matches, but in the preparation we’ve done in every aspect.
“Being able to go into any tournament with confidence and knowing that we’ve prepared the right way, taken care of the details, we know what we need to do, that is invaluable,” Silverio continued.
As always, fans are encouraged to follow Tech tennis on Twitter, @GT_WTEN, for instant updates.
— RamblinWreck.com —
