May 2, 2012
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech senior Jillian O’Neill and sophomore Alex Anghelescu earned at-large bids to the 2012 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships to be held May 23-28 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
O’Neill earned a top 16 seed in the singles championship and along with Anghelescu was selected to the doubles championship when both fields were announced by the NCAA Wednesday night.
“I am very proud of both Jillian and Alex,” head coach Bryan Shelton said. “Jillian has had an exceptional year after not being able to play all of last summer after foot surgery. She has gotten better and better all season and will be awfully tough to beat in the tournament.”
O’Neill is ranked 11th nationally, boasts a 30-11 record on the season and has 12 wins over nationally ranked opponents this spring. She has won her last six matches and claimed victory eight of the last 10 times competing. Her 30 wins lead the Yellow Jackets and she posted an 8-3 mark in ACC play en route to earning All-ACC accolades.
The spot in the 2012 tournament will be O’Neill’s second NCAA trip in two years on the Flats after earning an at-large bid to the singles field last season. She is the 20th Yellow Jacket to earn a trip to the NCAA Singles Championship.
O’Neill and Anghelescu have teamed up to become the 15th-ranked doubles pair in the country after not playing together until the final event of the fall. Tech’s No. 1 doubles pair has produced a 14-10 record this year and has defeated seven ranked foes, including Georgia’s then-second ranked team of Chelsey Gullickson and Nadja Gilchrist.
O’Neill and Anghelescu are Tech’s ninth doubles team to earn a bid to the NCAA Doubles Championship.
“Jillian and Alex are a very dangerous team and they complement each other well,” Shelton said. “Their chemistry on the court allows them to have fun and consequently play really good doubles. Making it into the tournament is a great accomplishment, but those two are not satisfied.”
Georgia Tech will open the team portion of the NCAA Championships May 11 against the No. 37 Oklahoma State Cowgirls in a 2 p.m. ET match at the Baumgardner Tennis Facility on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The winner of each of the 16 first and second round team sites will advance to the University of Georgia for the final four rounds of the 2012 NCAA Championships, May 17-22.
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 —
