Jan. 13, 2012
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech women’s tennis team will begin the spring season with a stiff test at the Michigan Invitational January 14-16, held at the Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Yellow Jackets are ranked 13th to begin the season and will face the host Wolverines, ranked 10th, the No. 24 Arkansas Razorbacks and the No. 27 Washington Huskies in the three-day event.
Each of the three teams will play three rounds of doubles and three rounds of singles. Singles and doubles champions will be determined by flights, eight in singles and four in doubles.
“We know when we come up here that there is going to be a lot of really good competition,” head coach Bryan Shelton said. “We know we are going to get three days of quality matches. Michigan puts on a great tournament with three quality teams. Last year, this tournament really helped us prepare for the ITA Kickoff Weekend in which we advanced to the ITA National Team Indoors and we’re hoping that happens again.”
Georgia Tech will face Arkansas in singles to open the tournament at 10 a.m. Saturday followed by doubles’ matchups with Washington at 1 p.m. The Yellow Jackets will open day two with singles against the Huskies at 10 a.m. and doubles versus Michigan at 1.
Tech will cap the opening weekend with doubles against Arkansas at 1, followed by singles matches against Michigan.
“All three of these teams are well coached and we know we’re going to be pushed on the court,” Shelton said. “Our main goal is to play tactically sound tennis, focus on our serves and return serves, and use them to effectively set up our points. We certainly want to execute better each day and by Monday, we hope that we’re back in a good rhythm.
“We love to play great competition,” Shelton added. “We’ve never shied away from it. We know what lies ahead with Georgia next weekend and playing in the best conference in the nation. We have to be battle tested for ACC play and this is a great way to get an early taste of that.”
Georgia Tech has never faced Arkansas, but faced both Michigan and Washington last year at the Michigan Invitational. Tech took two of three doubles matches and four of the seven singles matches from the Huskies last season. The Yellow Jackets and Wolverines evenly split both singles, 4-4, and doubles, 2-2, in the Wolverines tournament a year ago.
Michigan will be offering live scoring and video here.
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.
SCHEDULE OF PLAY
Saturday, Jan. 14
10 a.m. Singles — Georgia Tech vs. Arkansas
1 p.m. Doubles — Michigan vs. Arkansas, Georgia Tech vs. Washington
Singles to follow — Michigan vs. Washington
Sunday, Jan. 15
10 a.m. Singles — Georgia Tech vs. Washington
1 p.m. Doubles — Michigan vs. Georgia Tech, Arkansas vs. Washington
Singles to follow — Michigan vs. Arkansas
Monday, Jan. 16
10 a.m. Singles — Washington vs. Arkansas
1 p.m. Doubles — Michigan vs. Washington, Georgia Tech vs. Arkansas
Singles to follow — Michigan vs. Georgia Tech
— RamblinWreck.com —
