ATLANTA — After returning to his alma mater as head women’s tennis coach, former Yellow Jacket all-America Bryan Shelton is eager hit the courts running.
“Our whole team is excited about the coming year,” Shelton said. “We are all excited about the potential we have, and the direction we are headed. I’m anxious to get out on the courts. The main reason I took this position was to help the girls develop as players so we can develop as a team, so I can’t wait to get out there.” The Yellow Jackets open practice Tuesday, Sept. 7 in preparation for their season-opening tournament, the Georgia Tech Invitational, Sept. 24-26.
“Recruiting has been a top priority for me over the past month,” Shelton said. “Now that the girls are back on campus we will have a couple of weeks of conditioning, a couple of weeks of practices and then we launch right into our first fall tournament.”
Among Tech’s five returnees from last year are seniors Tamarra Jenkin (New Braunfels, Texas) and Sabrina Pardo (Aix En Provence, France), and sophomore Mason Miller (Gainesville, Ga.), an all-Atlantic Coast Conference choice last season.
“The first goal of the fall is to assess where the girls are with their games, and then determine where we want to get to,” Shelton said. “Once we can see the girls play and evaluate them and see what we have starting out, the easier it will be to figure out where we want to end up and how to get there. In the fall we’re just trying to work on the technical aspects of their games and make sure their mechanics are correct. We have four tournaments this fall, so hopefully they can implement the things they’re learning and be ready to compete in the spring.”
The Jackets will play two of their four fall tournaments at home. In addition to the season opener, Tech will also host the Yellow Jacket Invitational Oct. 22-24. The fall schedule:
Sept. 18-26 T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships (Baltimore, Md.), All DaySept. 24-26 Georgia Tech Invitational, All DayOct. 15-17 at Tennessee Fall Classic, All DayOct. 16-24 at Riviera All-American Championships (Pacific Palisades, Calif.), All DayOct. 22-24 Yellow Jacket Invitational, All DayNov. 5-8 ITA Southern Region Championships (Mobile, Ala.), All Day
