March 13, 2014
The #20-ranked Georgia Tech women’s tennis team (6-3, 3-1 ACC) hits to road again, traveling to #45 Boston College (8-4, 0-4 ACC) on Friday at 5 p.m. and to Maryland (5-5, 1-4 ACC) on Sunday at noon.
On the Road Again
Including the two upcoming matches at Boston College and Maryland, the Yellow Jackets have played eight of their 11 dual matches this season on the road. So far Tech has gone 4-2 in away matches. Tech is 2-1 this season at home, tallying wins against Old Dominion and Wake Forest and falling to Georgia.
Winning the Doubles Point
The Yellow Jackets are 5-0 when winning the doubles point this season and 1-3 when losing the doubles point. Tech captured the doubles point against #25 Nebraska, Old Dominion, #27 Tennessee, #22 Notre Dame and #32 Florida State. Tech lost to the doubles point to #43 Wake Forest, but won the match.
Scouting Boston College
The #45 Eagles are in search of their first conference win of the season after falling to North Carolina, 6-1, Virginia, 6-1, Miami, 6-1 and Florida State, 6-1. Boston College most recently defeated Florida International, 5-2. Jessica Wacnik plays at the #1 spot for the Eagles, and has gone 4-7 so frar this dual match season. Wacnik plays alongside Lexi Borr at the #1 doubles spot and the two have gone 5-4 so far this spring.
Looking at Maryland
The Terrapins picked up their sole conference win against Pittsburgh, tallying a 5-2 win on the road. On court one for the Terps is Kristina Hovsepyan, who is 2-6 in dual matches. Hovsepyan has paired up with Welma Luus to go 4-3 at the #1 doubles position. The duo is undefeated at 2-0 in ACC doubles play.
Dynamic Doubles Duo
The sophomore doubles duo of Megan Kurey and Kendal Woodard are ranked #2 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 6-2 together this spring and had won 14-straight doubles matches together, before a loss to Georgia snapped their winning streak. Kurey and Woodard are 8-2 in their last 10 matches.
Kurey and Woodard won the 2013 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships doubles title in November. The tandem is 19-6 together this season and 9-5 against nationally 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). 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.
Facing Ranked Opponents
The #45-ranked Boston College Eagles will be the ninth top-45 opponent the Jackets will face in 10 dual matches. Tech is 5-3 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 and bounced back to defeat #46 Wake Forest, 5-2.
Jackets in the Rankings
The Georgia Tech women’s tennis team checks in at #20 in the most 2014 ITA women’s rankings which was released on March 11. The doubles tandem of Megan Kurey and Kendal Woodard are ranked at #2 in the doubles rankings.
Georgia Tech is one of seven ACC schools that are ranked in the top-25 in the rankings, joining Duke (2), Virginia (5), North Carolina (6), Clemson (14), Miami (15), Georgia Tech (20) and Notre Dame (25).
National Champions
The #2-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 Jackets stay on the road, traveling to #9 Northwestern for a match up on Friday, March 21 at 7 p.m. ET.
