March 9, 2004
After nearly a month on the road, the No. 39 Georgia Tech (8-3, 1-1 ACC) men’s tennis returns home to host the first of three consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference matches against No. 41 Clemson (14-5, 0-1 ACC), Maryland (5-3, 0-2 ACC) and No. 19 Virginia (11-1, 1-0 ACC).
“This week is obviously a very big week for us,” said head coach Kenny Thorne. “We have three critical matches in terms of the conference standings and our conference is so evenly matched from top to bottom that every match is going to be a challenge.”
Wednesday, the Jackets will host the Tigers at 2:30 p.m. The two teams have met 35 tiimes, with Clemson leading the series, 23-12. Last season, Tech opened the match winning the doubles point but Clemson regrouped and won every singles contest to take the match, 6-1.
“Clemson played a great match last year and really took it to us,” said Thorne. “Hopefully our team will take that a little personally and use that for motivation to play well this year.”
Friday, the Jackets will return to action and host Maryland at 2 p.m. The two teams have faced one another 23 times, with Tech holding a 17-6 advantage. The last time the Jackets fell to the Terrapins was a 5-4 loss in 1992, and Tech has not dropped a point to Maryland since the 1992 season.
“Maryland is a team that although has been at the bottom of our conference has improved every year,” said Thorne. “They are the type team that if you play well against them, you should come out on top, but if you take them lightly, you will have a very, very hard time winning.”
Sunday Tech will host its final match of the week against Virginia at 1 p.m. The Cavaliers and Jackets have faced one another 29 times with Virginia holding a 18-11 edge. Last season, the Cavaliers won the meeting, 5-2. In that match, the Jackets won the double point, but West Nott was the only player to win in singles.
“Virginia is having an incredible season and their only loss this year has been to Illinois,” said Thorne. “They return a number of players from last year’s team, and have one of the top singles players in our conference in Doug Stewart. I expect our match with them to be very competitive and a real battle.”
To date, the Jackets have been led by Schnugg, who has posted a 8-3 record in dual matches while Nott, who has won his last three matches, now holds an 8-3 record. With a 10-4 singles record, Jose Luis Muguruza is ranked No. 78 in singles in the latest ITA rankings. On the doubles side, the tandem of Schnugg and Marko Rajevac own a 7-3 record at No. 1 doubles and are currently ranked No. 15 in the ITA rankings.
“We have the chance to make a statement this week,” said Thorne. “We feel great about how we are playing as a team and are excited to be back on our home courts and hope that our fans will come out and watch some great tennis.”
