GC&SU Tennis teams look for momentum in ITA

The Georgia College & State University men’s and women’s tennis teams travel to Wilson, N.C. this weekend for the ITA Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament hosted by Barton College.

Fall tennis schedules are individual tournaments, instead of the usual team tennis played in the spring. The ITA Regional tournament features the best collegiate tennis players from all over the country who will play for a chance to go to the ITA National Championship Tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas starting on Oct. 17.

The Bobcats look to continue their success in this tournament.

GC&SU’s tennis players have brought home several regional championships throughout the history of the program. Last year was the first time since 1996 that a GC&SU tennis player did not win one of the Regional Championships.

New Assistant Tennis Coach Julia Roudkovskaya and former teammate Lilia Biktyakova paired up to win the Region Doubles Championship for three straight years in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Now the women look to the future of their program with a relatively young team. Roudkovskaya and Head Bobcat Tennis Coach Steve Barsby know they have a tough road ahead of them.

“The main competition in the Peach Belt this year for the women will be North Florida and Clayton,” said Barsby. “Kennesaw has improved also. It will get a lot deeper like the men’s side.”

The men’s team hopes that the momentum from the Second Annual Alltel Fall Men’s Championship hosted by GC&SU will bring them full steam ahead through the ITA Regional Tournament. The men will have
to get through some of the best tennis players in the country at this weekend’s tournament.

“The men’s side will have the traditional Landers, Armstrong Atlantic,
Francis Marion, and North Florida,” said Barsby. “Those teams are always solid. Augusta got a couple of new guys who are really good. Columbus is looking really good right now. The men’s side is going to be really tough this year in the Peach Belt.”

The Bobcat men’s tennis program has also had success in its history at the tournament. Lars Lindblom won the Region Singles Championship in 1992, and he paired with Jonas Frisk to win the Region Doubles title that year as well.

The recent success of the men’s team has not escaped Barsby’s mind. He looks to restore the power that GC&SU tennis program has produced in the last ten years. Barsby knows that the road to a national title starts within a team’s region or conference.

“This tournament helps us see how we are in our region,” said Barsby. “Our goal is to get to nationals, but we got to get past the regionals first.”
For a young tennis team, the regional tournament can be a little intimidating, but Barsby is looking for a solid performance from both teams.

“The main importance of this tournament is to get a good starting point for rankings,” said Barsby. “It’s good to see where people are at with the new players coming in and see how your players match up after the
summer.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 4 2002. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry