Jan. 24, 2002
ATLANTA – An outstanding fall tournament campaign will provide the spring board needed by the Georgia Tech men’s tennis team as it opens the 2002 spring dual-match season by facing three opponents in California over the weekend. The 26th-ranked Yellow Jackets will open their season with a match-up at eighth-ranked Pepperdine, before travelling to 75th-ranked UC-Irvine and 49th-ranked San Diego on the trip.
A pair of singles players will head up the Tech attack, as both junior Roger Anderson and sophomore Joao Menano picked up strong wins in the fall, including an ITA Regional Championship and the ACC Indoor Championship. Anderson was the first to accomplish the feat, as he became the first Tech player to in the Region II singles title and as a result, he moved into the 32nd spot in the latest ITA rankings. Menano downed Anderson en route to his ACC Indoor title and turned one of the top weekend performances of his young career in the event.
Joining Anderson and Menano in the singles lineup will be junior David Wright, who will play No.2 singles and will team with Anderson to form the nation’s 21st ranked doubles team. Wright and Anderson had an outstanding spring a year ago, helping lead Tech to an NCAA Tournament appearance and gaining a ranking as high as 24th. The duo opened the year ranked eighth in the nation and are currently in the No. 21 spot.
Another pair of players that has found success as both singles and doubles players for the Jackets this year are transfers West Nott and Scott Schnugg. The pair will be Tech’s No. 2 doubles tandem and earned a No. 31 doubles ranking after a strong fall season that included a run into the ITA All-American Main Draw after beginning the event in the pre-qualifying round.
The Jackets’ final doubles team will consist of Menano and junior Stephen Moros, both of whom will appear in the Tech singles lineup, most likely in the No. 3 and four spots respectively.
Following its road trip, Tech will return home to face both Charlotte (10 a.m.) and Mercer (3:30 p.m.) at the Bill Moore Tennis Center on February 3. Results from the team’s west-coast swing will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
