ATLANTA (Feb. 17) – Looking to build some momentum and consistency after taking on three straight ranked opponents, Georgia Tech’s 48th-ranked women’s tennis team hosts crosstown rival Georgia State at 2 p.m. Friday at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
“Georgia State has had a lot of injuries,” said Tech head coach Bryan Shelton. “They only have four or five players healthy. I’m looking for us to have three solid practices leading up to the match and for us not to take them lightly even though they have been pretty banged up. It’s important for us to use our next few matches to get some confidence in both singles and doubles and build some momentum for the rest of the season.”
In their last outing, the Yellow Jackets (2-1) dropped their first dual match of the season to 13th-ranked South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. Despite the loss, Shelton saw signs of progress, especially in Tech’s doubles play.
Shelton shuffled his doubles lineup, moving junior Bobbi Guthrie (Raleigh, N.C.) up from the No. 3 slot to play with senior Sabrina Pardo (Aix En Provence, France) at the No. 1 position. Sophomore Laura Ozolins (Toronto, Ontario) joined freshman Charlotte Pernet (Dijon, France) at No. 3, while the freshman duo of Mysti Morris (Cartersville, Ga.) and Jaime Wong (Delray Beach, Fla.) remained at No. 2.
In their first match together, Guthrie and Pardo dropped a close 9-7 match to the nation’s 14th-ranked doubles team of Katarina Markovski and Jennifer Radman.
“I wanted to strengthen our No. 1 doubles position, so I moved Bobbi up,” Shelton said. “That was the first time Sabrina and Bobbi had played together, and if they continue to play the way they did against South Carolina, they can compete against any No. 1 team.
“Overall, I saw improvement in our doubles, but we were playing against a tougher team, so the results might not have shown the improvement. Hopefully, we will continute to improve and have three solid teams by the time we get to our ACC matches.”
