Feb. 20, 2013
THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech women’s tennis team returns to action against a pair of in-state rivals when the Yellow Jackets host Georgia State at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex and travels to Athens to take on Georgia at 12 p.m. Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets (2-3), ranked No.24, will be playing their first match since an ACC-opening loss at No. 20 Clemson last Wednesday. Senior Elizabeth Kilborn is ranked No. 62 in the latest singles poll. Freshmen Natasha Prokhnevska and Kendal Woodard each have a team-best 10 singles wins this year. Kilborn and freshman Megan Kurey each have nine individual victories.
The Panthers are ranked No. 58 in the latest Campbell’s/ITA Division I Tennis Rankings and sport a 3-4 record with wins over Syracuse, Oklahoma State and UCF. Georgia State dropped a 5-2 decision at No. 27 Florida State in its last match. The Panthers are led by Abigail Tere-Apisah, who is ranked No. 28.
“I feel like our team, especially our freshmen, is playing some really good tennis,” head coach Rodney Harmon said. “Megan, Kendal and Natasha are playing very, very well. We’re hoping they continue that trend because it’s going to be a big week for us. It’s an opportunity for us to play our in-city rival who has a really good team and then go to UGA on Saturday.”
Georgia is currently ranked No. 5 nationally with two nationally-ranked doubles teams and five ranked singles players. The Bulldogs are 5-1 this season and are coming off a 4-1 loss to UCLA in their last match on Feb. 10 at the ITA National Team Indoor Tournament.
“They know how to play against us and we know how to play against them,” Harmon added. “That’s all out the window. It’s about execution, who brings the intensity, handles adversity and manages their emotions on a pretty tough stage. That’s what we want to do, go out and control the things we can control, focus on the things we’ve been working on in practice and play against a tough opponent in Georgia State and the No. 5 team in Georgia, who has a great tradition and a great team this year. It’ll be a tough battle on Saturday but we have to worry about what we do on Thursday first.”
Fans are encouraged to follow Georgia Tech women’s tennis on Twitter, @GT_WTEN, and like the Yellow Jackets on Facebook, GTWomensTennis, for an inside look at the program.
–RamblinWreck.com–
