May 7, 2002
ATLANTA – The 22nd-ranked Georgia Tech women’s tennis team will make its third-straight NCAA regional appearance on when it travels to Lexington, Ky., to face Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Regional at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Kentucky. Tech will open play on Friday beginning at 10 a.m.
The Yellow Jackets (14-9) will be facing the Wolverines (14-10) for the first time in school history and will be looking for their second first-round NCAA win in three attempts. The winner of the Tech-Michigan match-up will face the winner of the match between 17th-ranked Kentucky (16-8) and Boston University (12-8) in the regional final on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Tech turned in one of the most successful seasons in school history, earning a top-20 ranking for the first time ever and attaining the program’s highest spot ever in the polls when it came in at No. 17 on April 17. Junior Jaime Wong and freshman Catherine Gunn have led Tech throughout the year. Wong became the first Yellow Jacket to earn an invitation to the NCAA singles championship when she received the bid in 2002, while Gunn led the Jackets with 25 singles wins on the year. Wong was second on the team with 20 overall singles victories and ranks third all-time at Tech with 75 career wins.
The Jackets 2002 NCAA Championship appearance will mark the third in school history, as head coach Bryan Shelton has led Tech to the NCAAs in each of his first three seasons at the helm. Georgia Tech has advanced past the first round of an NCAA regional on one other occasion, defeating 25th-ranked Washington in its first-ever NCAA tournament, before falling to ninth-ranked UCLA in the regional final.
Full tournament results and coverage will be available at www.ukathletics.com, with a recap of Georgia Tech’s results posted daily at www.ramblinwreck.com.
