Jan. 15, 2015
The #18 Georgia Tech women’s tennis team begins the 2015 season at Alabama at the Mal Moore Invitational this weekend at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility. Competition runs from Friday through Sunday.
Back to the Court
The Mal Moore Invitational features top competition, with all four competing teams being ranked in the top 30 of the ITA’s rankings. Alabama is tied for eighth, while Northwestern checks in at 17. Georgia Tech is right behind Northwestern at 18 while fellow ACC school Florida State comes in at 30.
Friday and Saturday will kick off with doubles and 10 a.m. CT with Sunday beginning at 9 a.m. CT. Below are the pairings for the tournament:
Friday
Alabama vs. FSU
Northwestern vs. Georgia Tech
Saturday
Alabama vs. Northwestern
Georgia Tech vs. FSU
Sunday
Northwestern vs. FSU
Alabama vs. Georgia Tech
In the Rankings
The Yellow Jackets debuted in the first ITA team poll at #18. Georgia Tech wrapped up the 2014 season ranked at #18 after going 14-10. The Jackets have three singles players and one doubles duo that are also ranked in the season’s first polls.
Freshman Johnnise Renaud is the #63 ranked singles player after recording a team-best eight singles wins this fall. Ranked at #81 is junior Natasha Prokhnevska who went 5-2 during the tournament season. Freshman Paige Hourigan is ranked at #121 after recording a 7-3 singles record in the fall.
The doubles tandem of sophomore Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer and freshman Alexis Prokopuik check in at #28 on the doubles ranking after going 6-2 during the fall. The duo won three-straight matches at the end of the season.
Veteran Leaders
Georgia Tech’s three juniors, Megan Kurey, Natasha Prokhnevska and Kendal Woodard, bring a wealth of veteran experience to the Yellow Jackets. Kurey, who missed the fall recovering from injury, was named the captain of this year’s Yellow Jacket squad. Kurey and Woodard had quite a successful sophomore season after becoming the 2013 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Doubles champion and winning the 2013 ITA/USTA Southeast Regional Doubles title. The duo was named 2014 ITA All-Americans and honored on the 2014 ITA Collegiate All-Star team. Woodard was honored on the All-ACC First Team in 2014 while Kurey was honored on the All-ACC Second Team. Woodard won a team-best 30 doubles matches last season.
Prokhnevska, who is tabbed as the #81 singles player in the ITA rankings, went 5-2 in singles and 3-1 in doubles during the fall tournament season. Prokhnevska advanced to the main singles qualifying round of the ITA/USTA Southeast Regional after winning three-straight matches, including a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, victory against the number two seed, Silva Garcia from Georgia.
Year Two
After successful campaigns in their first year as Yellow Jackets, sophomores Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer and Rasheeda McAdoo are back on the court for Jackets. Anton-Ohlmeyer went 2-6 in singles during the fall tournament season and recorded a 6-2 mark alongside Alexis Prokopuik in doubles. Anton-Ohlmeyer and Prokopuik, who are ranked #28 in doubles by the ITA, won the Melissa Minor Doubles Draw during the Roberta Alison Fall Classic after going 3-0 at the tournament.
McAdoo tallied a 7-2 record in singles and went 6-2 alongside Paige Hourigan in doubles during the fall season. She went a perfect 3-0 at the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Invitational and 3-0 in doubles alongside Hourigan. The duo was named the doubles MVP at the tournament. McAdoo also advanced to the round of 16 in the singles main draw of the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional after recording two wins.
Fresh Faces
Georgia Tech has three new Yellow Jackets this season – freshmen Paige Hourigan, Alexis Prokopuik and Johnnise Renaud. Hourigan, who is from Turakina, New Zealand recorded a 7-3 singles record and went 6-2 in doubles besides Rasheeda McAdoo during the fall tournament season. She advanced to the main draw singles semifinals at the Bulldog Classic, registering three wins at the University of Georgia and tallied two wins at the USTA/ITA Southeast Regionals, advancing to the round of 16 in the singles main draw. Hourigan and McAdoo went 3-0 in doubles at the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Invitational on the way to being named the doubles MVP at the tournament.
Prokopuik, a West Vancouver, British Columbia, went 4-5 in singles play and 6-2 in doubles matches alongside double partner Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer during the fall. She advanced to the round of 16 in the singles consolation draw of the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional. Prokopuik and Anton-Ohlmeyer, who are ranked #28 in doubles by the ITA, won the Melissa Minor Doubles Draw during the Roberta Alison Fall Classic after going 3-0 at the tournament
Renaud is the Yellow Jackets’ highest ranked singles player, checking in at #63. Renaud recorded a team-best 8-3 singles record and a went 3-3 in doubles during the fall tournament season. She competed in the Junior U.S. Open Championship at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, going 1-1 against international competition in the Junior Girls’ Qualifying Singles Draw. Renaud was selected to the pre-qualifying singles draw at the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championship where she fell to Georgia’s Mariana Gould in the first round. She advanced to the singles qualifying round of the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional after winning three matches
Follow the Jackets
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter, @GT_WTEN, Instagram, @GT_WTEN, and Facebook, GTWomensTennis, or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
Next Up
The Yellow Jackets return to the Flats to host the NCAA Kickoff Weekend on Jan. 24 and 25. Match times are set for 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex. Georgia Tech, Columbia, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech will all compete that weekend.
