Tennis moves up ranks to No. 6

The women's tennis team continued their winning streak when they downed No. 2 UGA 4-3 on March 16. It was a thrilling come from behind victory.

"We lost the doubles point in a close match, and then we went to singles and everyone lost the first set. So we were all down, but we just hung in there and fought, and we ended up winning," said sophomore ace Alison Silverio. "It was an amazing feeling especially being at their home court and beating them."

In singles action freshman Kristi Miller beat Shadisha Robinson (2-6, 6-2, 7-6) who was ranked No. 4 in the country as an individual.

"It was amazing to beat such a good player when so much was on the line. I knew if I played well I could beat her, but I didn't expect it to be me winning the last two points in the tie breaker," Miller said.

Silverio noted a difference between this year's and last year's team. "Last year we lost a lot of close matches 4-3. We were right there with every team that was ranked ahead of us, but we couldn't get over that hump. And this year we have fought some really tough matches and were able to pull it out. It's really helped our confidence."

Tech is now ranked No. 6 in the country, the highest ranking of any tennis team in school history. Miller ranks No.15 nationally as an individual, and on the doubles side Miller and Silverio rank No. 16 as a pair.

But Miller doesn't let the rankings go to her head. "I think about rankings only a little bit. There are a lot of good players out there, and especially when you are playing at the No. 1 position, everyone you're going to play is strong. You have to be ready for a good match no matter what."

The women's team has six matches left this season-all of them against strong ACC foes-and currently stands on top of the ACC with a conference record of 4-0.

"Our goal is to win an ACC championship this year, either the season record or the ACC tournament which is coming up in three weeks," Miller said. "We've got some of the [better ACC teams] coming up. I think that's doable for us if we all play as a team and play well on those days."

The last three matches of the season are against No. 11 Miami, No. 10 Duke and No. 16 North Carolina.

"They are going to be very exciting matches and some good tennis," Miller said.

A strong finish to the season would also put the team in good standing for the NCAA tournament. The top 16 of the 64 teams in the NCAA tournament get home-court advantage for the first two rounds.

"That was one of our goals we set at the beginning of this season-to be a top 16 team so we could host," Silverio said.

The NCAA tournament, starting with the round of 16, is hosted by UGA, and the Jackets look forward to a possible return trip to Athens. "We're ranked sixth right now. I think it would be awesome if we could live up to that or even do better," Miller said.

But the Jackets maintain their strong work ethic despite their previous success. "I think it's important to stick with what you're doing and keep working to get better, because if you don't work to get better, then you're going to fall behind everyone else that is working hard."

"We need to keep pushing forward and not look back at what we have done. We need to keep establishing how good we really are, to keep working to improve our individual games and to keep improving as a team."

In addition to the NCAA team tournament, there are also national tournaments for individuals and doubles. If the season were to end today, Miller would qualify as an individual and the pairing of Miller and Silverio would qualify for doubles.

Miller and Silverio continue to build their chemistry together as the team's top doubles pairing.

"It's something you have to work out a little bit because you have to understand what they feel and what their tendencies are," Miller said. "I think Alison and I are starting to get the hang of that-of complementing each other. I think that's what important in chemistry-complementing each other with your best shots."

The women's team plays at Maryland today at 11 a.m. Tomorrow they play a noon match against Virginia.

Next weekend the team returns home to play Florida State on Saturday and Miami on Sunday. Then to end the season, Tech hosts Duke and UNC on April 16 and 17.