March 2, 2006
Off to a 5-0 start this season, the No. 22 Georgia Tech men’s tennis team hosts two key matches this weekend. The Yellow Jackets will begin the weekend facing No. 36 Arizona State Friday at 1:30 p.m. followed by their season-opening Atlantic Coast Conference match against No. 17 Miami at 1 p.m.
The Yellow Jackets and Sun Devils (6-7) face each other for just the second time in school history, with Tech winning the only meeting between the two in 2005 by a 4-3 score on the campus of Arizona State.
“We have another weekend of matches against really good opponents,” said head coach Kenny Thorne. “Arizona State is a very good Pac Ten team. They have already played a very tough schedule and are no doubt ready. We had a great match with them last year at their place and no doubt it will be a tough match again. We are ready to play so it should be exciting.”
Sunday Tech will turn its attention to the Hurricanes, who stand at 6-1 overall and are 1-0 in the ACC. This will mark the 31st meeting between the two schools, with Miami leading the series, 25-5. Last season the two teams faced each other with the Jackets winning the match, 6-1.
“Miami is incredibly improved this year and have already had some great wins,” said Thorne. “Their coach, Mario Rincon, has done a great job in building that team. It will be our first ACC match of the season and is no doubt a tough one. You always like to set a good tone for ACC conference play so it should be very intense.”
The Jackets continue to be led by George Gvelesiani, who stands with a perfect 5-0 record in singles play at the No. 5 position. In addition, the doubles team of Zachary Rath and Scott Blackmon enter the match with a 5-0 record, primarily playing at the No. 2 slot.
Both matches are free to the public and will be held at the Bill Moore Tennis Center with livestats available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
