April 30, 2003
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s tennis team earned its third-straight at-large berth into the NCAA Championships and fourth bid in the last five years, and the Yellow Jackets (12-9) will travel to Oxford, Miss., to face 23rd-ranked Auburn (15-9) in the first round of competition on May 10 at 10:30 a.m. EST. The first two rounds will be held at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Mississippi.
“Obviously it’s great to be in the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight year,” said Tech head coach Kenny Thorne. “All year I’ve felt like we have a team that could be among the top teams in the nation and that’s been one of goals throughout the season. We had some trouble with injuries at the end of the year and as a result we lost some very close matches. Now we will have our team completely healthy for the NCAAs, and I’m excited to see what we can do there.”
The Jackets’ 2003 appearance will be the seventh in the history of the program, as head coach Kenny Thorne has now led Tech to the NCAAs in four of his five seasons at the helm. Georgia Tech has nearly broken even in its six previous appearances, holding a 5-7 record in those matches. The Yellow Jackets’ top performance in the tourney came in 1994, when Tech reached the round of 16 in Notre Dame, Ind., before falling to third-ranked TCU. Last year, the Jackets fell to 19th-ranked South Carolina in the first round in Athens, Ga. Tech is 24-9 against Auburn in its history, with the two teams last meeting in 1998, when the Tigers won by a 6-1 score.
All-ACC performers Roger Anderson and Scott Schnugg will lead Tech as it enters the 2003 NCAA Championship. Anderson, a senior from Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, earned All-ACC honors for the third-straight year in 2003, ranking second on the team with a 23-9 singles record on the year, playing solely in the No. 1 position in the singles lineup. Schnugg, a junior from Medford, Ore., leads the team in overall singles wins with a 26-13 record. He and Anderson form the Yellow Jackets’ top doubles team, as the duo holds a 12-2 dual-match record and a 13-3 overall mark. They are currently ranked 10th in the nation in the latest ITA rankings and will likely be a part of the NCAA doubles championship when the field is announced on Thursday.
Joining Anderson and Schnugg in the singles lineup will be junior West Nott, who is tied for the team lead with a 15-6 dual-match record on the year and is third on the team with his overall 21-12 mark. Tech will also welcome back the services of junior Jason Pieters, who missed the team’s final eight matches with a stress fracture in his left leg. Pieters had been playing in the middle of the Jackets’ singles lineup and was 8-3 in dual matches and 13-7 overall on the year.
“I think the match-up with Auburn is very good for us,” said Thorne. “They are a very good team. If we can win that match it would certainly give a great deal of momentum going into the second round and potentially facing an outstanding Ole Miss team.”
The winner of the match between Georgia Tech and Auburn will advance to face the winner of eighth-ranked and top-seeded Ole Miss (18-4) and fourth-seeded Southern Conference Champion College of Charleston (18-3) in the second round. The winner of that match will advance to the round of 16 at the Dan Magill Tennis Center at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. The full draw for the tournament is available at www.ncaachampionships.com.
-GT-
