April 30, 2003
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech women’s tennis team earned its fourth-straight at-large berth into the NCAA Championships, and the Yellow Jackets (13-6) will travel to Los Angeles, Calif., to face Big West Conference Champion Cal Poly (20-6) in the first round of competition on May 9. The first two rounds will be held at the David X. Marks Tennis Stadium on the campus of the University of Southern California.
“Obviously we are excited to be going to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight year as we start to build a tradition here at Georgia Tech,” said Tech head coach Bryan Shelton. “When I first got here, we just hoped to get into the NCAAs and now it’s more of something that we expect to do. Rather than just thinking about whether we can get in, we try to set goals of how far we can go. Our goals are certainly loftier than they were when I first arrived four years ago.”
The Jackets’ 2003 appearance will be the fourth in the history of the program, as head coach Bryan Shelton has led Tech to the NCAAs in each of his four seasons at the helm. This year’s trip to California will mark another long NCAA journey for the Jackets, as they have traveled to the West Coast in three of their four appearances, posting a 2-3 record in five previous matches. Tech will be facing Cal Poly for the first time in its history and second-round match-ups with either Southern Cal or Sacramento State would also be the first-ever meeting between the schools.
Georgia Tech’s singles lineup will feature a trio of players that are currently ranked in the latest ITA poll. Leading the way is senior Jaime Wong, who is rated 43rd in both singles and doubles after posting a team-best 25-8 overall singles record thus far in 2003, along with a 13-5 dual-match mark. Fellow senior Mysti Morris has cracked the rankings at number 116, after posting a solid 9-3 dual-match record and a 20-8 overall ledger this year. Sophomore Catherine Gunn is the third ranked Yellow Jacket, checking in at No. 123 after posting a 17-17 record while playing primarily at the top of the Tech singles lineup.
ACC Rookie of the Year Kelly Anderson holds a team-best-tying 13-5 dual-match record and teams with Wong to form the Jackets’ top doubles team. The duo is ranked 43rd and is 13-6 on the year playing at the No. 1 spot in the doubles lineup.
“We will be looking forward to facing Cal Poly in the first round,” said Shelton. “Obviously we don’t know a lot about them yet, but they are certainly a solid team in that they have already won 20 matches and they won their conference tournament. It’s exciting to be a part of the NCAA field and we will go out to California and hopefully we can be successful out there.”
The winner of the match between Georgia Tech and Cal Poly will advance to face the winner of fifth-ranked and top-seeded USC (19-5) and fourth-seeded Big Sky Conference Champion Sacramento State (16-7) in the second round with that winner advancing to the round of 16 in Gainesville, Fla. The full draw for the tournament is available at www.ncaachampionships.com.
