Yellow Jacket Roundup: Hockey Looks Ahead to the Great Outdoors

ATLANTA, GEORGIA — Georgia Tech had a robust week of events as the spring season really comes into swing on the Flats. Notable news this week comes from just about everywhere, including track, swimming, hockey, tennis, and basketball. As the headline indicated, I looked ahead on the hockey schedule and found that there is an outdoor game in a few weeks, so be sure to circle that on the calendar and prepare to brave the drive up into the hinterlands to Athens.

All that and more coming up in this week’s edition of Yellow Jacket Roundup.

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#22/NR Swimming and Diving:

Tech (M) defeat Queens 149-112
Tech (W) defeat Queens 191-103
Tech (W) defeat West Florida 234-66

Tech had a very positive dual/triangle meet this weekend as they hosted Queens, as well as West Florida’s team, which competed only on the women’s side. Queens is a new add to Division I, having spent the past few years as a Division II power, winning seven straight NCAA Division II titles through the end of last season. Though one might think that this would put them at a disadvantage to their new peers, it is actually a athletic department with a very strong portfolio of Olympic sports, basketball, and baseball teams. In the past few days, I was able to spend some time rebooting the NCAA Swimming CAP Rankings that Akshay and I put together a few years back, as the times database had had a number of data formatting changes that had put the script running that in disrepair. Now that it is back up, I find it extremely illustrative of the instant impact Queens has had as a competitive Division 1 school.

As can be seen, Tech edges out Queens in both the men’s and women’s ranking, but it is quite close on both sides, and the men’s ranking even has Queens on the borderline of being a top 25 team as a very fresh team to Division 1. That said, it made for a robust and roughly equal showing for the two teams as they squared off in Atlanta this past weekend.

Tech split the 200 medley relay, with the women falling to Queens, while the men took the win. In the relay to end the meet, Queens took both relays, which speaks to their depth — and Tech’s lack of it — in the distance events. With relays account for a large share of potential points, it is these performances that kept Queens competitive, given Tech’s solid success in the individual events.

Tech had multiple swimmers win multiple events, as Deniz Ertan took home first place in both the 1650 Freestyle (16:11.69) and the 500 Freestyle (4:46.85), both of which earned her consideration cuts for this spring’s NCAA Championships, while Batur Ünlü came out on top in both 200 Freestyle (1:35.61) and the 500 Freestyle (4:17.17), with each of those also earning him consideration cuts for NCAAs. Continuing Tech’s abundance of very successful Turkish mid- and distance freestyle swimmers, Mert Kilavuz won the 1650 Freestyle (14:53.61) and came in just behind Ünlü 500 Free, also receiving consideration cuts. Rounding out the middle and distance freestyle events, Tech’s Charles Perks finished 3rd in the men’s 500 freestyle, while Rei Kuramoto and Zora Ripkova finished first and second in the women’s 200 Freestyle, with Kuramoto earning NCAA consideration with her time.

Tech’s final male multi-event winner on the day was Berke Saka, another of the talented Turks, taking home wins in both the 100 (46.15) and 200 Backstroke (1:41.57) and earning consideration in both events for the postseason. Tech’s Christopher Richardson took second in the latter, and on the women’s side, the 200 Backstroke marked the only event West Florida won on the afternoon. The other NCAA-consideration finishers on the afternoon for the Jackets were Anna Hadjiloizou, finishing second in the 50 Freestyle 2nd, along with another multi-event winner, McKenzie Campbell, winner of both the 200 Butterfly (1:58.04) and 400 Individual Medley (4:16.67), who led a long string of Tech women into the wall in succession, with Kuramoto, Abby Cohen, Kendal Chunn, Anne Deedy following Campbell into the wall for a rather rare 1-2-3-4-5 finish.

Other event winners include Claudia Butterfield and Daniel Kertesz (100 Breaststroke), Nils Bognar (400 IM), and Ripkova in the 100 Butterfly. On the boards, the Tech men scored no points, since no other men’s divers were present, and all results were counted as exhibitions. For the women, Tech was dominant, finishing first, second, and third in the 1 meter (Katie McKyton — 300.45, Anna Bradescu — 295.20, Carmen Woodruff — 276.75) and first and second in the 3 meter (Anna Bradescu — 297.68, Carmen Woodruff — 285.00).

For their efforts, the Tech men were rewarded with their first top 25 ranking in the Coaches Poll this month, slotting in at #21.

Tech is next in action next week as they take on Division II Carson-Newman on Friday, a Tennessee Division II school with which I have little familiarity other than noting that they also stacked their schedule with Tennessee, who dispatched them earlier in the month.

Track and Field:

As big as any records set by the team this week, Georgia Tech Track and Field and Cross Country opened their long-awaited new facility this past week. This needed investment brings their team facilities and athlete training in line with other programs in the conference and region, and is a hopeful boon to recruiting in addition to athlete wellbeing. For more, check out the Related widget with a link to RamblinWreck.com.

On the track, the Jackets headed up to Nashville for the Commodore Invite. Tech often spends the winter portion of the track season alternating between Clemson and Vanderbilt. On Friday, Tech did not notch any first place finishes, however, they did manage a number of second place results. Sheleah Harris and Shanty Papakosta were Tech’s two second place finishers, with Harris taking home a time of 24.36 in the women’s 200 meters, while Papakosta finishing with a jump of 1.68 meters in the high jump. Tech’s third place finishers included Cameron O’Neal in the long jump with a 7.69 meter result and Matthew Mazzacano managed a 4.80m pole vault.

On Saturday, Tech’s best finishes both came in 60 meter length events. The first of the day came via Anna Witherspoon in the 60 meter hurdles. Witherspoon and Taylor Grimes managed to both earn places in the top three for the event, and the other event winner on the day was Harris, whose 7.41 won the 60 meter dash. Tech’s other top finish was a second place finish in the men’s 4x400 meter relay.

The Jackets will next be in action in Clemson for the Bob Pollack Invitational next weekend.

#25 Women’s Tennis:

It was a quick match for Tech this week, as the Jackets took on Georgia State. Ava Hrastar made an appearance in singles for Tech after notably being out of the lineup in Columbia. Slotting in at court five just behind Tech’s four ranked players, she was one of Tech’s six two set wins in singles on the day. Tech cruised to the doubles point behind dominant 6-0 wins on court one, as No. 53 Carol Lee and Kate Sharabura topped Eva Chivu and Pragnya Kumar, and court two, with Kylie Bilchev and Alejandra Cruz defeating Michelle Ncube and Ellie Aldrich, while Mahak Jain and Ruth Marsh (GT) had play suspended at 3-3.

In singles, as noted, Tech was on a roll, and all courts ended in two sets. On court one, Lee defended her top 10 singles ranking, dispatching Chivu 6-0, 6-3, and No. 111 Bilchev made quick work of Ncube on court two 7-5, 6-1. Among Tech’s other ranked players, No. 109 Jain beat Maria Paredes 6-1, 6-3 and No. 104 Cruz eased by Kumar 6-2, 6-0. As noted, Hrastar beat Alexia Alvarez 6-2, 6-2, while Rosie Garcia Gross handled Aldrich 6-1, 6-2 on court six.

Tech needs to notch wins where they can find them, with a tough schedule throughout the spring, and this was a great start. Tech has a chance to make some national noise quickly though this coming weekend as they head to a rare road ITA Kickoff Weekend relative to their selection as a host in many previous years, with host Cal providing a phenomenal opportunity to get a notable match in the record at Berkeley starting on Friday.

Men’s Tennis:

There was a lot of men’s tennis action this week on the Flats, as Tech played a doubleheader against Presbyterian during the week followed by a morning-afternoon pair of matches against Wofford and Alabama State on Sunday. In the first pair, Tech started shaky, and nearly lost to Presbyterian, eking out a 4-3 decision on the final singles court. This, to put it lightly, would have been a not-good omen for the season, and was thankfully avoided.

Presbyterian Match 1 (4-3)

• Doubles: Martin/McDaniel (GT) 6-4 W, Chopra/Sachdev (GT) 5-4 DNF , Shokry/McKinney (GT) 6-4 W
• Court 1: Milanovic (PRES) def. Martin (GT) 6-4, 6-4
• Court 2: Benson (PRES) def. Chopra (GT) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
• Court 3: McDaniel (GT) def. Dominguez (PRES) 6-0, 6-0
• Court 4: Matos (PRES) def. Sachdev (GT) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
• Court 5: Shokry (GT) def. Alleno (PRES) 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1)
• Court 6: Bauer (GT) def. Cariov (PRES) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4

The rest of the matches on the weekend were fairly mundane, and resulted in thorough Tech wins. None of the opponents were ranked in singles or doubles, and Tech’s most notable finishes otherwise were a doubles point loss against Presbyterian and a loss on court five in singles against Alabama State.

Presbyterian Match 2 (6-1)

• Doubles: Martin/Chopra (GT) 7-5 W, McDaniel/Shokry (GT) 7-6 (7-1) L, McKinney/Sachdev (GT) 6-4, L
• Court 1: Martin (GT) def. Dominguez (PRES) 6-0, 6-2
• Court 2: McDaniel (GT) def. Cardoso (PRES) 6-1, 6-1
• Court 3: Chopra (GT) def. Martens (PRES) 6-3, 6-1
• Court 4: Shokry (GT) def. Schollmeyer (PRES) 6-0, 6-2
• Court 5: McKinney (GT) DNF Mamalat (PRES) 7-6 (8-6)
• Court 6: Bauer (GT) DNF A. Skoog (PRES) 7-6 (9-7)

Wofford (7-0)

• Doubles: Martin/McDaniel (GT) 6-3 W, Chopra/Shokry (GT) 6-3 W, McKinney/Bauer (GT) 3-6 L
• Court 1: Martin (GT) def. Ray (WOFF) 6-2, 6-2
• Court 2: McDaniel (GT) def. Rendle (WOFF) 6-0, 6-0
• Court 3: Chopra (GT) def. Young (WOFF) 6-2, 6-3
• Court 4: Sachdev (GT) def. Fullet (WOFF) 7-5, 3-6, 10-2
• Court 5: Shokry (GT) def. Horn (WOFF) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
• Court 6: Bauer (GT) def. Graham (WOFF) 6-2, 7-5

Alabama State (6-1)

• Doubles: Martin/McDaniel (GT) 6-1 W, Chopra/Shokry (GT) 6-1 W, McKinney/Bauer (GT) 4-2 DNF
• Court 1: Martin (GT) def. Grandinot (ASU) 6-4, 6-1
• Court 2: McDaniel (GT) def. Du Preez (ASU) 6-0, 6-3
• Court 3: Chopra (GT) def. Bajracharya (ASU) 6-2, 6-3
• Court 4: Sachdev (GT) def. Amier (ASU) 6-4, 6-2
• Court 5: Johnson (ASU) def. McKinney (GT) 7-5, 6-4
• Court 6: Shokry (GT) def. Verlaguet (ASU) 6-4, 7-5

Tech will next be in action on Sunday and Monday at the Stanford region of the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Tech will play Stanford on Sunday and either Pepperdine or Texas A&M on Monday.

Women’s Basketball:

Tech (10-9, 1-7 ACC) earns 69-57 victory versus Syracuse (13-6, 4-4 ACC) at home
Tech (10-10, 1-8 ACC) falls to North Carolina (-, - ACC) 70-57 on the road in Chapel Hill

For women’s basketball coverage on their first ACC win of the year, click the link below:

In addition, here are the recent results in the series for Syracuse:

Analysis by Jake Grant, data via the ACC and RamblinWreck.com.

As for the second contest, a Sunday matinee loss to North Carolina, it played out as many Tech games have in the conference slate. Despite an excellent 15 point, 8 rebound showing from Tonie Morgan, which helped propel her to winning the ACC Rookie of the Week, along with 13 points from Cameron Swartz, Tech couldn’t keep the Tar Heels off the boards, nor could they capitalize on forced and unforced North Carolina turnovers. At the sake of avoiding belaboring of points in what is already a lengthy article, I will leave that one where it is and present the recent results below:

Analysis by Jake Grant, data via the ACC and RamblinWreck.com.

Coming up this week, Tech has a winnable home game against Clemson on Thursday before a very good NC State team comes to town on Sunday.

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In the Club House:

Tech had a mostly quiet week on the club sports front this week. In action at home, the Jackets took on Clemson on Friday night. In the first contest, Tech rallied in the third after falling behind 3-0 in the first two periods. With three goals, two via team all-time leader Matthew Connelly and one by Zach Jacobson, the team put themselves back in the game, though a goal for Clemson early in the period proved one mark too many for the Jackets to match.

Looking ahead, Tech will head to Knoxville for a doubleheader, followed by a game against the Athenians on an outdoor rink in Athens to end the regular season. Who put an outdoor ice rink in Athens and expects it to be a relatively playable surface, I do not know, but I will put my skepticism aside for the sheer novelty of seeing a club team play such a unique concept. At the end of the day, club athletics are a rewarding (and under-appreciated) part of the collegiate experience, and it is very heartening to see the team get what is a relatively uncommon opportunity, particularly in the South.

Over the Airwaves:

Last week on Scions of the Southland, Jack, Akshay, and I discussed the latest in Tech sports as four basketball games came and went without a Tech win. In addition, the three of us previewed the season for the men’s and women’s tennis teams while also prognosticating just a bit on the other happenings on the track and in the rink. In the next few weeks, keep an eye out for Softball and Baseball previews, where we’ll meet with Georgia Tech Softball Head Coach Aileen Morales as well as three upperclassmen veterans of the baseball team.

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This Week:

Swimming and Diving:

1/27 — Carson Newman [3:00 PM, (presumably) ACC Network Extra]
1/27-28 — Miami, Florida State, Auburn (Diving) [2:00 PM, (pr.) ACC Network Extra]
1/28 — Gardner-Webb [11:00 AM, (pr.) ACC Network Extra]
1/28 — Miami, Florida State, Auburn (Diving) [11:00 AM, (pr.) ACC Network Extra]

Track and Field:

1/27-28 — Bob Pollack Invitational (Clemson, SC) [All Day]

Women’s Tennis:

1/27 — ITA Kickoff Weekend - San Diego (Berkeley, CA) [Stream - Cracked Racquets]
1/28 — ITA Kickoff Weekend - California OR Princeton (Berkeley, CA) [Stream - Cracked Racquets]

Men’s Tennis:

1/27 — ITA Kickoff Weekend - Stanford (Palo Alto, CA) [Stream - Cracked Racquets]
1/28 — ITA Kickoff Weekend - Pepperdine OR Texas A&M (Palo Alto, CA) [Stream - Cracked Racquets]

Women’s Basketball:

1/26 — Clemson [7:00 PM, ACC Network Extra]

Men’s Basketball:

1/24 — at Clemson [9:00 PM, ACC Network]
1/28 — Duke [3:00 PM, ACC Network]

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