March 6, 2014
The #23 Georgia Tech women’s tennis team (5-3, 12-1 ACC) will host its first ACC match of the season on Friday at 3 p.m. Ken Byers Tennis Center against #46 Wake Forest (8-3, 1-3 ACC).
Live stats for the match against the Demon Deacons can be found here.
Scouting Wake Forest
The Demon Deacons travel to the Flats after losing two-straight ACC matches to #11 North Carolina, 5-2, and to #15 Clemson, 6-1. On court one for Wake Forest is Andrea Retolaza, who is 6-5 so far this season. The doubles duo of Kasey Gardiner and Xue Zhang play in the number one spot and are 9-2 overall. They have gone 8-2 in their past 10 matches. Wake Forest leads the series record against Tech, 21-12. The Jackets have won the past nine out of 10 matches against the Demon Deacons.
Winning the Doubles Point
The Yellow Jackets are 5-0 when winning the doubles point this season and 0-3 when losing the doubles point. Tech captured the doubles point against #25 Nebraska, Old Dominion, #27 Tennessee, #22 Notre Dame and #32 Florida State.
Dynamic Doubles Duo
The sophomore doubles duo of Megan Kurey and Kendal Woodard are ranked #3 in the nation in the doubles rankings after debuting this season at the #4 spot. In the Feb. 11th poll, the pair was ranked as the #1 doubles team. The tandem is 5-2 together this spring and had won 14-straight doubles matches together, before a loss to Georgia snapped their winning streak. Kurey and Woodard won the 2013 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships doubles title in November. Kurey and Woodard are 19-6 together this season and 9-5 against ranked opponents.
Player of the Week
Sophomore Natasha Prokhnevska was named the ACC Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 18 for the first time in her career after helping Tech defeat #27 Tennessee, 5-2. Prokhnevska’s win at the #2 singles position clinched the victory for the Yellow Jackets, who are 3-1 this season. Prokhnevska defeated Joanna Henderson, 6-4, in the first set. In set two, she battled it out against Henderson to win the set, 7-6 (7-5) and to stay undefeated in singles play at 3-0 this season.
In doubles play against the Lady Vols, Prokhnevska paired up with Muriel Wacker to defeat Victoria Olivarez and Eve Repic, 8-3, helping the Jackets win the doubles point. The Jackets are 3-0 this season when winning the doubles point.
Facing Ranked Opponents
The #43 Demon Deacons will be the eighth top-45 opponent the Jackets will face in nine dual matches. Tech is 4-3 against ranked opponents after blanking #25 Nebraska, 4-0, at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in its first dual match of the season. Against #16 Vanderbilt, the Jackets suffered their first loss of the season, 4-3. Tech defeated #27 Tennessee, 5-2, and #22 Notre Dame, 4-3 before falling to #7 Georgia, 7-0. The Jackets defeated #34 Florida State, 5-2, but fell at #20 Miami, 7-0.
Jackets in the Rankings
The Georgia Tech women’s tennis team checks in at #23 in the most 2014 ITA women’s rankings which was released on March 4. The doubles tandem of Megan Kurey and Kendal Woodard are ranked at #3 in the doubles rankings and Muriel Wacker and Natasha Prokhnevska check in at #49. Woodard is 124th in the singles poll.
Georgia Tech is one of seven ACC schools that are ranked in the top-25 in the rankings, joining Duke (1), Virginia (5), North Carolina (12), Miami (13), Clemson (15), Georgia Tech (23) and Florida State (25).
National Champions
The #1-ranked sophomore doubles duo of Megan Kurey and Kendal Woodard capped off an impressive fall season by winning the 2013 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships doubles title. Kurey and Woodard captured the national indoor doubles title on Nov. 10, 2013 after defeating Louisville’s Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine in the championship match.
The tandem went 14-4 this fall and owned an impressive 7-3 record against nationally ranked opponents. The duo finished off the season on a nine-match winning streak, including three straight victories during national indoors on their way to the national doubles title. Kurey and Woodard also won the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Doubles Title in the fall.
Follow the Jackets
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.
Next Up
The Yellow Jackets return to the Flats to host Wake Forest on Friday, March 7 at 3 p.m.
–RamblinWreck.com–
