After successful seasons from both the women’s and men’s tennis teams, Tech heads to Cary, N.C. to take on the ACC Championships. The Lady Jackets performed admirably and propelled into the top 25 rankings twice. The men’s team also performed well and was ranked in the top 50 from March 7 and beyond. Both Tech tennis teams are looking to wrap up their season nicely and bring some momentum into the NCAA Tournament.
Tech’s women’s tennis season was one filled with ups and downs. The Jackets started out their spring season with wins over in-state rivals Mercer and Georgia State before falling to u[sic]GA. After trading wins and losses, the Jackets faced one of their most challenging matches of the season against the No. 22-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks. Tech came out victorious off the back of junior Alejandra Cruz. The Jackets collected one more ranked win for the season, a 4-2 victory over the Clemson Tigers. With the strong results, Tech spent two weeks of the season in the top 25 and proved to be one of the most competitive in college tennis.
Canadian sophomore Scarlett Nicholson leads the Jackets and is ranked No. 31 in the country with a 19-8 season record. Nicholson earned ACC Women’s Tennis Player of the Week on April 1 after three ranked-singles wins over ACC opponents, the first of her career. Alongside Nicholson, freshman Taly Licht earned ACC Freshman of the Week honors when she won four matches against Virginia Tech and Virginia, two wins in both doubles and singles. Cruz and sophomore Given Roach are Tech’s more potent doubles pairing, ranked No. 78 in the country, and will look to make a deep run in the ACC tournament alongside the rest of the team.
Much like the women’s season, the men’s team faced turbulent times in the spring. The men started their season with a 5-2 victory over the UNC Charlotte 49ers before dropping their second match to the Alabama Crimson Tide, 2-5. The rest of the season could best be described as streaky. After the loss to Alabama, the Jackets won three matches in a row, two coming against Wofford with the other being over Arkansas. Starting on Feb. 22, Tech won six matches in a row, with the latter four coming in conference play. The streak consisted of wins over No. 35-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Southern Methodist University Mustangs.
After splitting matches against Duke and UNC Chapel Hill, Tech went on another streak, this time a seven-game losing one. Tech had hard-fought losses throughout but was unable to overcome the ACC competition. The Jackets are currently ranked No. 45 in the country despite the losing streak, which shows that the team still has the pedigree to perform in the future. The Jackets are led by the No. 11-ranked doubles pairing in the country with senior Nate Bonetto and freshman Gianluca Carlini as well as the No. 80-ranked junior Christophe Clement and sophomore Krish Arora. In singles both Bonetto and Clement feature in the top 115 players in the country. The Jackets enter the ACC tournament with little momentum, but the break should give Tech a chance to reset.
Tech looks to prove that it belongs amongst Tennis’s elites with both the men’s and women’s teams pushing for strong performances in the ACC Tournament coming up shortly.
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