Jan. 24, 2002
ATLANTA – After a successful fall tournament season, the Georgia Tech women’s tennis team will face a stern test when it opens the 2002 dual-match season with a match-up with the fourth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores beginning at 2 p.m. at the Bill Moore Tennis Center. The Yellow Jackets open the 2002 spring season ranked 47th in the latest ITA rankings.
During the 2001 season, the Yellow Jackets had another strong dual-match season, earning their second-straight NCAA Tournament bid with an 11-12 record overall and a 4-4 ACC mark that was good for fifth in the league.
Tech returns six letterwinners from a year ago, headed up by junior Jaime Wong, who has been one of the Jackets’ most consistent performers in her first two seasons on the Flats, holding the best career winning percentage in school history after just two seasons. Wong, a native of Singapore, is the lone Tech singles player ranked among the nation’s top 100 singles players, checking in at 76th following the fall portion of the schedule. She will play the number one spot in the Tech lineup to open the year.
Following Wong on the Jackets’ lineup will be fellow third-year performer Mysti Morris, who competed at both the No. 2 and 3 positions a year ago in the dual-match campaign and posted a 6-12 record in dual matches. Morris, a Cartersville, Ga., product, also posting a team-best 11-6 mark in doubles play in dual matches.
Jacket rookie Catherine Gunn will assume the third spot in the lineup after seeing a great deal of action for Tech in the fall season. Gunn, a native of Winchester, England, went 7-4 during the tournament portion of the schedule. Another newcomer to the Yellow Jacket roster will be fourth in the lineup, as sophomore Sekita Grant, who transferred to Tech from California between semesters, will see her first dual-match action against the Commodores.
The final two spots in the lineup will be filled by a pair of veterans, as senior Laura Ozolins and redshirt junior Mason Miller will play the in the fifth and sixth spots respectively.
Wong and Morris will make up the top doubles tandem after posting a 9-6 record as a pair a year ago, while they will be followed by Gunn and Miller in the second spot and the team of Grant and Ozolins at No. 3 doubles.
After opening the year with Vanderbilt on Friday, the Jackets will return to action on Sunday by hosting both Georgia State (10 a.m.) and Chattanooga (3 p.m.) at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
Admission to all home tennis matches is free and full results will be posted at www.ramblinwreck.com.
