Feb. 2, 2012
ATLANTA – The 13th-ranked Georgia Tech women’s tennis team (3-1) will host the No. 51 Princeton Tigers (1-0) in a 2 p.m. match Friday at the Bill Moore Tennis Center on the Georgia Tech campus.
The match with the Tigers will be Georgia Tech’s final competition before heading to the ITA National Indoor Championships to be held Feb. 10-13 at the Boar’s Head Club in Charlottesville, Va., and hosted by the University of Virginia.
The Jackets have won three straight matches after defeating No. 54 Georgia State 5-2 and No. 27 South Carolina 4-0 last weekend at home in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
“I think last weekend will certainly help us, having played outdoors a couple matches,” head coach Bryan Shelton said. “I’m looking forward to a nice day tomorrow and getting back out there. I think we can solidify some of the things we’ve been working on, in particular with our doubles play, we’ve been focusing in on moving our feet. Like a lot of sports, it’s not just in preparation for hitting the ball, it’s after you hit the ball, continuing to move.
“We’ve spent a lot of time on our serve and our return serve,” Shelton added. “I think it’s the most important part of the game. We’ve made some technical adjustments to some of our servers and I think those things are really starting to settle in. I think if we serve well this weekend and return well, we’ll have a chance to be very successful again.”
Doubles play has been an area of strength for the Yellow Jackets, who boast a combined record of 18-4 and have won the doubles point in every match. Senior Jillian O’Neill and sophomore Alex Anghelescu have been playing the top spot for Shelton and are 6-0 overall and 4-0 in dual play. Senior Lynn Blau and junior Elizabeth Kilborn have mostly played the No. 2 line and are also 6-0 overall and 3-0 in dual play.
The Tigers have two ranked teams, Hilary Bartlett and Lindsay Graff are No. 51 while Katie Goepel and Rachel Saiontz are No. 55.
In singles play, Tech is 32-11 overall and 14-8 in dual match play. Blau and freshman Jasmine Minor are each 6-0 overall, while Kilborn is 6-1. After finishing last weekend with a combined 3-0 record, Kilborn was named ACC Co-Player of the Week.
Princeton does not have any ranked singles players.
“When you look at Princeton’s team, you see their roster, they have a ton of kids who were blue-chip recruits the last two or three years,” Shelton said. “They have a very talented group there. [Head coach] Megan Bradley-Rose has done a good job of putting some solid kids together and we know they’re going to come out and play intelligently. We’re going to have our work cut out for us. We’ve got to be ready to play, put our best foot forwad, have a great attitude out there, and play like we’re trying to earn something, which we are. We’re trying to develop and get better. Every time out is important.”
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.
— RamblinWreck.com —
