ATLANTA (March 7) – Georgia Tech’s 64th-ranked men’s tennis team opens its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule this week with road matches at Duke and NC State before returning home to host Maryland and non-conference foe Richmond.
The Yellow Jackets (2-5) visit third-ranked Duke at 2 p.m. Wednesday and NC State at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, then return home for a double-header Sunday with Maryland at 9:30 a.m. and Richmond at 2:30 p.m., respectively.
“Our last match against Vanderbilt was a big match for us as we get ready for the ACC season,” said Tech head coach Kenny Thorne. “We came out with a win which gives us some confidence going into this week. The Duke match is going to be very tough. They are ranked No. 3 in the country and to win that match would be a major upset. NC State is a very pivotal match. They are a team that is similar to us, and that is match we feel like we need to win. I think how we do against NC State will tell us a lot about our ACC season.”
Thorne hopes to be bolstered this week by the return of junior Jason Jeong (Woodstock, Ill.) and a healthy freshman Roger Anderson (Pietermitzburg, South Africa), Jeong has been out since February with mononucleosis, and Anderson is back at full strength after recovering from an ankle sprain.
“Getting those two back will help us tremendously,” Thorne said. “Jason won a lot of big matches for us last year and was one of our more consistent players. Roger has proven himself high in our lineup, and can raise his level of play. He is still a freshman and doesn’t have a lot of experience, but I believe he can compete with anyone in the ACC.”
