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ATLANTA, GEORGIA - Tech’s teams hit the road, for the most part, as most notably men’s tennis gets a slate of SEC competition, in a light week for us Atlanta-based fans of non-revenue sports. And, yes, the subtitle is a reference. They almost always are. But this one works twice! Oooh.
Women’s Basketball
Thursday, January 31st: Georgia Tech (13 - 8) loses a heartbreaker to North Carolina, 91-90.
Sunday, February 3rd: Georgia Tech (13 - 9) gets smoked by Notre Dame, 90-50.
In order to spare us of the pain yet again, I will keep the writeup of this week’s games short. That said, praise, despite the let down, is due to Elizabeth Balogun, thanks to her remarkable 35 point effort in the loss to North Carolina. Her three free throws to tie the game at 90 after coming back from a double digit deficit at the halftime break were just the icing on the cake. However, not fouling in the final 2.7 seconds would have been nice, in order to send the game to overtime, but Tech could but watch as North Carolina sank one of two to barely edge by the Jackets, 91-90, in one of the methodical and defensive-minded Jackets’ best offensive showings in years. They’re still young, and to get to learn from a tough road game like this is crucial.
However, it seems they were still in recovery mode on Sunday, as Notre Dame was able to jump out to a 32 point lead midway through the second quarter, 42-10. Things didn’t fare much better, though they spared themselves NC State-level ignominy by eventually scoring 50 points. However, Notre Dame again put up 90 on the weary Jackets, who look to return to the friendlier confines of McCamish Pavilion on Thursday night.
This week: Hopefully Tech can get things back on track after three straight tough losses.
Women’s Tennis
Tech split the week 1-1 with a loss to no. 20 Texas Tech and a 4-3 win over Winthrop. This team, coming off a semifinal appearance, looks just a shadow of its former self. However, it’s early, so they still have time to figure themselves out, and now they have that elusive win under their belt. Luckily, they have plenty of time to do that this week, without a trip to ITA Indoors, and are resting until the 15th.
This week: The Racket Jackets take some time to rest.
Men’s Tennis
It looked like it would be close this afternoon, but none of Tech’s singles could hold on, and Tech fell 4-0 to the Athenians on Sunday after taking a 4-1 loss in Auburn. Of course, these scores don’t include unfinished matches where Tech was leading, but, of course, a loss is a loss. These are the first big school they’ve played so far and confirm something that seemed pretty apparent early on: Tech is firmly in the middle tier of college tennis - good enough to smoke the mid-majors, but not knocking off the top of the power teams, either.
This week: Tech hosts two in-state mid-majors, hopefully getting things back on track.
Track and Field
The runners ran and such.
That was my place filler when I was laying out the structure of this article, as I tend to do, and we’ll keep it. Simple and elegant. Anyways, as for actual results, track and field went up to Michigan this weekend, where it is reportedly still quite chilly, but, of course, they were indoors at the Power Five Invitational, a conglomeration of several schools, mostly Big Ten and ACC. The men saw Avery Bartlett win the 800m in record time, and Daniel Pietsch win the 400m, while Bri Hayden led the women with a 200m victory. The best relay of the weekend was the men’s distance medley relay, who also took home a win.
This week: Tech splits the squad three ways as teams ship out for Boston, Nashville, and Clemson.
For Basketball Coverage:
This Week on the Flats:
BOLD for home, REGULAR for away, ITALIC for time and location
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday:
Men’s Basketball vs. Clemson
7:00 PM, McCamish Pavilion, Regional Affiliates, and the Georgia Tech IMG Basketball Radio Network (WCNN 680 AM / 93.7 FM Atlanta)
Thursday:
Men’s Golf at the Amer Ari Invitational
All day, Waikoloa, HI
Women’s Basketball vs. Pittsburgh
7:00 PM, McCamish Pavilion, ACC Network Extra and WREK 91.1
Friday:
Men’s Golf at the Amer Ari Invitational
All day, Waikoloa, HI
Swimming and Diving at the Auburn Invitational
All day, Auburn, AL
Track and Field at:
- David Hemery Valentine Invite
All day, Boston, MA - Music City Invitational
All day, Nashville, TN - Track and Field at the Tiger Paw Invitational
All day, Clemson, SC
Softball vs. Providence (River City Leadoff)
4:30 PM, Jacksonville, FL
Men’s Tennis vs. Kennesaw State
5:00 PM, Ken Byers Tennis Complex
Saturday:
Men’s Golf at the Amer Ari Invitational
All day, Waikoloa, HI
Swimming and Diving at the Auburn Invitational
All day, Auburn, AL
Track and Field at:
- David Hemery Valentine Invite
All day, Boston, MA - Music City Invitational
All day, Nashville, TN - Track and Field at the Tiger Paw Invitational
All day, Clemson, SC
Softball vs. Providence (River City Leadoff)
11:30 AM, Jacksonville, FL
Softball vs. UMass-Lowell (River City Leadoff)
1:00 PM, Jacksonville, FL
Sunday:
Swimming and Diving at the Auburn Invitational
All day, Auburn, AL
Men’s Tennis vs. Georgia State
12:00 PM, Ken Byers Tennis Complex
Softball at Jacksonville (River City Leadoff)
12:30 PM, Jacksonville, FL
Women’s Basketball at Wake Forest
1:00 PM, Winston-Salem, NC, ACC Network Extra and WREK 91.1
Men’s Basketball at Notre Dame
6:00 PM, South Bend, IN, ESPNU, and the Georgia Tech IMG Basketball Radio Network (WCNN 680 AM / 93.7 FM Atlanta)