How far either of Georgia Tech’s tennis teams reaches in its respective NCAA championships is uncertain. But both the men’s and women’s teams appear positioned to maximize their potential as their tournaments begin this weekend.
The women’s team has won six of its past seven, including two over teams also in the NCAA field, N.C. State and Miami. The Yellow Jackets’ only loss was to North Carolina, the top seed in the NCAA Tournament, in the ACC Tournament final. Tech, in the tournament for the 21st season in a row, will be at home for its first-round match Friday against Georgia Southern at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex. The Jackets are the No. 13 overall seed.
“We’ve just been able to play well, especially towards the end of the year,” coach Rodney Harmon said.
The team is healthy, Harmon said, after COVID-19 protocols sidelined team members. The Jackets are 9-10 in matches against teams in the NCAA field, with seven of the losses to teams that received one of the top 16 seeds.
The Jackets are strong at the top. No. 1 singles player Kenya Jones is ranked fifth in the country and No. 2 singles player Victoria Flores is 13th. As a doubles pairing, Jones and Flores are third nationally.
“We know where our strengths are, but you need the whole team,” Harmon said. “We’ve had a lot of positive contributions from our freshmen this year.”
Should the Jackets defeat Georgia Southern, playing in its first-ever NCAA Tournament, they’ll face the North Florida-Ole Miss winner on Saturday to advance to the 16-team national championship event in Orlando, Fla. Tech has advanced to that stage 10 times, including its national championship in 2007. The Jackets reached the Final Four in 2018.
“We have to go out there and be ready to execute and fight and battle, but it’s going to be tough,” Harmon said. “There’s so many good teams, so many good players.”
Coach Kenny Thorne’s men’s team has won three of its past four matches, and the fourth was in the ACC tournament to Virginia, a 4-3 quarterfinals defeat to the eventual champions. The Cavaliers received the No. 5 overall seed in the NCAA championship. The Yellow Jackets play Memphis in a first-round match Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn.
“They’ve done a good job over the years,” Thorne said of the Tigers. “They’ve actually had really good teams. I respect their program a lot.”
Tech is in the tournament for the 18th time overall and 13th with Thorne, most recently in 2017.
If the Jackets defeat Memphis Saturday, they will play the Tennessee-Alabama A&M winner on Sunday. The SEC champion Volunteers are the No. 3 seed and are 24-3. In the tournament’s current format, Tech has made it out of regional play once, in 2011.
Of Tech’s six singles players, five were either freshmen last season (and maintain freshman eligibility) or are freshmen this year, including Marcus McDaniel at No. 1 singles and Andres Martin at No. 2 singles. Both have earned invites into the NCAA singles championship and also together in the doubles championship.
In light of that youth, Thorne was encouraged by what he saw in the ACC Tournament loss to Virginia, a match that came down to a third-set tiebreaker at No. 2 singles, where Martin fell short. Rather than claiming a moral victory in pushing a top-10 team to the hilt, Thorne said, “they were really upset, which is a good sign. They were ready to get back going and hop back in. Fortunately, we get the NCAA Tournament to do that. I’ve got a lot of confidence in these guys.”
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