Lady Jacket tennis goes 2-1 against ranked teams
The women’s tennis team started their season out last weekend as they competed in the National Team Indoors, in Madison, Wis.
Going into the event Tech was ranked No. 3 in the nation. The ranking is the highest ever for a women’s team in any sport at Tech.
“It’s an honor to be thought of like that, but I think our task now is to solidify that, and prove that’s where we belong,” said Kelly Anderson, one of three seniors on the team.
“[It’s] very exciting, and hopefully we continue to get higher,” junior transfer Tarryn Rudman said.
Tech faced three talented opponents, two of which were nationally ranked during the weekend event.
“Playing such tough matches was good for us to set a standard. [We’re] very motivated after playing a tough weekend [of competition] to know what [we] have to work on,” Rudman said.
“Our goal of going to Madison was to try and see where we stood, to see how much we had to improve,” Anderson said.
Tech lost the first round to No. 15 Texas, 5-2. Tech took their first point by winning the doubles matches at the one and three slots. The pairing of Kristi Miller and Lyndsay Shosho won along with the Rudman and Alison Silverio duo. Miller was the lone singles winner of the day, winning her match 6-4,6-2.
“Even though we lost [against Texas], we don’t see it as a negative at all,” Rudman said.
The next day Tech bounced back by winning all six singles matches and all three doubles matches to beat the host school, Wisconsin, 7-0. Doubles winners of the day were Rudman/Silverio, Anderson/Whitney McCray and Miller/Shosho. Christy Striplin didn’t play in a doubles match but did win her singles match.
Tech finished the tournament by beating No. 12 Kentucky, 6-1. During the match, Tech won five of the six singles matches and all three doubles matches. Rudman, Shosho, Silverio, McCray and Striplin all won their singles matches.
“[Against] Kentucky we played really well,” Anderson said.
Tech moves to 2-1 on the young season as they look to defend their ACC title and compete for the national championship.
“We’re going to shoot for winning the ACC again, and obviously wanting to continue to improve as we go on, so that we are ready for the NCAA [tournament],” Rudman said.
Tech took an early exit from last year’s tournament and hopes to go farther in the post season this year.
“One of our team goals at the beginning of the semester was to win a national championship,” Anderson said.
“With our team and depth, it’s very possible [to win the national championship],”Rudman said.
Tech sees action again on Feb. 18 against Alabama and then on the Feb. 19 as they travel to Auburn. Tech’s first home match comes Feb. 23 as they host Rice.
| Women’s Tennis Home Games | ||
| Feb. 23 | Rice | 2 pm |
| Feb. 25 | Georgia | 12 pm |
| Mar. 1 | Clemson | 2 pm |
| Mar. 4 | Northwestern | 12 pm |
| Mar. 9 | Vanderbilt | 1 pm |
| Mar. 11 | Virginia Tech | 11 am |
| Mar. 12 | Virginia | 11 am |
| Mar. 25 | Maryland | 12 pm |
| Mar. 26 | Boston College | 11 am |
| Apr. 15 | Wake Forest | 12 pm |
| Apr. 16 | N.C. State | 12 pm |
All home games are played at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
