2008 Women’s Tennis Team Preview
A new season of women’s tennis will begin this weekend in Atlanta as the Jackets will host the Georgia Tech Invitational tournament. There will be quite a different makeup of the team as senior Christy Striplin and junior Amanda McDowell are the only two remaining players from the 2007 national championship team.
Sophomores Noelle Hickey and Sasha Krupina add two more experienced players from a season ago. Four players are starting their freshman years at Tech: Lynn Blau, Hillary Davis, Irina Falconi and Viet Ha Ngo. Falconi comes to Tech as a five-star recruit on tennisrecruiting.net and has professional experience playing on the WTA Circuit for the past year and a half.
Davis comes to Tech from Austin, Texas with a No. 16 national ranking and being the 2007 Texas Grand Slam Singles Champion. Blau, from Luxembourg, played on the ITF Women’s Circuit for a year and won the Luxemburgish Championship in both individuals and team in 2006. Ngo, from Vietnam, has also competed in several tournaments on the ITF Women’s Circuit over the past year.
With solid returning players and a strong recruiting class, look for women’s tennis to continue the success that it established in recent years.
Player Spotlight
Irina Falconi
Hometown: Jupiter, Fla.
Year: Freshman
Reason to watch: She enters Tech after playing a year and a half on the professional circuit and as a five star recruit.
2008 Men’s Tennis Team Preview
The men’s tennis team will also start their season this week as they travel to Athens and compete in the UGA tournament.
The team makeup this season will be almost all underclassmen, with no seniors and one junior. Sophomore Guillermo Gomez, who was last season’s ACC Freshman of the Year and Mideast ITA Rookie of the Year, returns to lead the team.
Other positions are fluid and younger guys had opportunities to play at higher positions toward the end of last season. With some experience under their belts, the sophomores will make an impact on the team this season.
Freshmen Kevin King and Dusan Miljewvic provide the Jackets with some depth at several positions. The youth in Tech’s ranks should make the Jackets a force in the ACC as the team can grow together and establish a formidable identity throughout the upcoming season.
Player Spotlight:
Eliot Potvin
Hometown: Hampden, Maine
Year: Sophomore
Reason to watch: Looking to continue his freshman development, Potvin hopes to push men’s team into the top 25.