Sept. 29, 2003
ATLANTA – Golf athlete Thomas Jordan, volleyball middle blocker Alexandra Preiss, and football quarterback Reggie Ball were named the Wendy’s Georgia Tech Student-Athletes of the Week for Monday, September 29, 2003.
Jordan, a sophomore from Sea Island, Ga., led Tech to a second-place finish at the Ping/Golfweek Preview Invitational in a field that featured 14 of the top 20 teams in the country, including the top seven teams from the Golfweek Preseason Poll. The Jackets beat six of those seven teams in the event, finishing behind UCLA. Jordan finished tied for third in the individual standings, the top finish of his career, with an even-par score of 71-69-140. That total was just two shots off the individual lead, and he finished ahead of 19 preseason All-Americans. Jordan is currently fifth on the team with a 74.40 stroke average, but has counted all but one of his rounds towards the Jackets’ team total.
Preiss, a senior from Berlin, Germany, led the Georgia Tech volleyball team to a perfect 2-0 record on the week, as the Jackets defeated Atlantic Coast Conference opponents NC State and North Carolina by 3-0 marks. She was the Jackets’ top player on the week, averaging four kills per game and hitting .442. In the match against North Carolina, she recorded 10 kills and hit .500. Preiss currently leads the team in blocks per game (1.09) and stands second with a .402 hitting percentage.
Ball, a freshman from Stone Mountain, Ga., led the football team to a come-from-behind overtime victory over Vanderbilt by a score of 24-17. The rookie became just the third quarterback in Tech history to rush and pass for 100 yards in a game as he had 108 yards passing and 103 rushing yards. Trailing 17-10 with 2:12 to play, Ball directed the Jackets on an eight-play, 89-yard scoring drive to tie the game with 32 seconds left in regulation. He hit tight end J.P Foschi on a six-yard pass in the end zone to send the game into overtime. On the first play in overtime, Ball faked right and then bootlegged left, diving into the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown run to cap the comeback. For his efforts, Ball was named ACC Rookie of the Week for the second time this season.
2003-04 GEORGIA TECH STUDENT-ATHLETES OF THE WEEK Sept. 1 Nathan Burton (Football) and Alexandra Preiss (Volleyball) Sept. 8 Eric Henderson (Football) and Jayme Gergen (Volleyball) Sept. 15 Dawan Landry (Football) and Kele Eveland (Volleyball) Sept. 22 Trevor McLeod (Tennis) and Lauren Sauer (Volleyball) Sept. 29 Thomas Jordan (Golf), Reggie Ball (Football) and Alexandra Preiss (Volleyball)
