March 24, 2016
The No. 22 Georgia Tech women’s tennis team (10-5, 5-1 ACC) hosts two ACC opponents this weekend, facing No. 25 Clemson (7-5, 5-2 ACC) on Friday at 3 p.m. and Pitt (7-5, 1-5 ACC) on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.
Against the Opponents
Series vs. Clemson: Clemson leads the all-time series 29-9. The Yellow Jackets look to snap a four-match losing streak to the Tiger on Friday.
Series vs. Pitt: Georgia Tech leads the all-times series 2-0. The two teams met in 2014 and 2015 with the Yellow Jackets picking up a 7-0 win in both matches.
Tied for Second
The Yellow Jackets have won five-straight ACC matches, defeating No. 44 NC State, 6-1, at home and winning 6-1 at Boston College before coming home to defeat No. 30 Syracuse 7-0 and No. 22 Wake Forest, 5-2. Most recently the Jackets defeated #60 Florida State, 4-1, on the road. Georgia Tech is tied with Duke for second in the conference standings at 5-1. North Carolina leads the conference with a 5-0 record.
Two Yellow Jackets are 5-1 in conference singles – Rasheeda McAdoo and Alexis Prokopuik while Paige Houirgan, Johnnise Renaud and Kendal Woodard are all 4-1.
A Look at the Yellow Jackets
The Yellow Jackets have been strong throughout on every court this season. McAdoo, Renaud and Prokopuik have all registered a team-best 10 wins. Renaud has gone 6-3 on court one and 4-0 on court two while picking up five wins against ranked opponents. McAdoo is undefeated on court three at 7-0 and has won six-straight matches. Prokopuik is on her own four match winning streak, playing mostly at the five and six spots. Woodard is a constant on court four, going 6-2 while Hourigan has won five-straight matches and is 4-1 on court two.
Renaud and McAdoo are 9-3 in doubles, going 8-3 on court two, and picking up a win at the number one spot. The No. 18 doubles team of senior Kendall Woodard and Hourigan are 9-2 on court one in 2016 and are undefeated in doubles against ACC opponents at 6-0.
In the Rankings
Despite a victory at #60 Florida State, the Yellow Jackets dropped from 19 to 22 in this week’s ITA Team Rankings. The number 19 ranking was a season- high. this season, sophomore Johnnise Renaud moved up 24 spots in the singles rankings to No. 37 after winning five-straight matches, including defeating No. 12 Elles Perez of Georgia. She is now ranked No. 30.
Sophomore Paige Hourigan is ranked a No. 105 while junior Rasheeda McAdoo checks in at No. 117 on the singles rankings. The doubles duo of Kendal Woodard and Paige Hourigan moved up on the doubles list from No. 58 to No. 21 to now No. 18.
ACC Players of the Week
Two Yellow Jackets have already been named ACC Player of the Week. Most recently, sophomore Johnnise Renaud picked up the honor after going 4-0 in singles and doubles at two ranked opponents –No. 59 Tennessee and No. 6 Ohio State. Junior Rasheeda McAdoo was the first ACC Player of the Week of the senior after going 2-0 in GT’s season-opening win against UAB. Both Jackets received the award for the first time in their careers.
Facing Ranked Opponents
The Yellow Jackets are 6-5 when facing ranked opponents so far this season, defeating No. 46 William & Mary, No. 59 Tennessee, No. 44 NC State, No. 30 Syracuse, No. 22 Wake Forest and No. 60 Florida State. Four of the five losses were to top-25 teams.
Doubles Point
The Yellow Jackets have won the doubles point in nine matches this season and are 9-0 when taking the first point of the match. The Yellow Jackets are 1-5 when losing the doubles point, having lost to No. 21 LSU, No. 11 Miami, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 4 Georgia and No. 53 Northwestern. This season the Yellow Jackets dropped the doubles point to No. 22 Wake Forest but rebounded to win the match, 5-2.
