Feb. 18, 2005
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s 23rd-ranked women’s tennis team will face its toughest competition to date in the 2005 dual-match season when it hosts No. 18 Harvard Sunday in a match that is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
“Harvard has had one of the most talented squads for the past few years, and they are finally realizing that potential,” Georgia Tech head coach Bryan Shelton said. “We will certainly have our hands full on Sunday.”
This week, the Yellow Jackets (5-0) moved into the top-25 for the first time since being ranked No. 22 on April 14, 2003, while their highest ranking in the last five years came in 2002 when the team was ranked 17th on March 31st.
The Jackets are coming off a pair of wins against No. 37 Alabama and No. 39 Rice Wednesday and Thursday and are facing a 5-1 Harvard team, whose only loss this season has come at the hands of top-ranked Stanford on Feb. 3.
The 5-0 start this season for the Yellow Jackets marks the best start since 1998 when Georgia Tech began 8-0 with key victories coming against No. 62 Alabama, No. 71 UAB and No. 44 Florida State.
The Crimson currently have five players ranked in this week’s singles rankings, including Courtney Bergman (27), Susanna Lingman (45), Preethi Mukundan (93), Elsa O’Riain (104) and Celia Durkin (123) while Bergman and O’Riain also appear at No. 48 in the doubles rankings. The Yellow Jackets boast a pair of ranked singles players, Kristi Miller (18) and Kelly Anderson (79) and two ranked doubles teams, Miller/Silverio (16) and Anderson/Shosho (58), according to the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls.
“I know that our team will be up for the challenge as we become the hunters in this match,” said Shelton. “I am very proud of how we continually work hard on developing and I am also proud of the way that we compete. Everyone wants to win and be successful, but our team is also willing to do the work every single day to ensure that success.”
The Yellow Jackets will begin Sunday’s match with doubles play at noon, with singles action to follow 10 minutes after the conclusion of doubles, and the team hopes to have the stands full of the white and gold.
“We would love to have our fans come out and support us on Sunday,” Shelton requested, “and we need them to make some noise!”
Following the match, the Yellow Jackets will return to action Saturday, February 26th when they travel to Nashville to take on the sixth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores.
