Troy University Athletics
Trojans Head To Georgia Invitational
1/14/2010 3:00:00 PM | Tennis (W)
TROY, Ala. - The Troy women's tennis team departs Thursday for Athens, Georgia Thursday morning to participate in the annual UGA Invitational this weekend on the campus of the University of Georgia.
The tournament signifies that the beginning of the season is just around the corner, as the teams and individuals will use this tournament as a way to prepare themselves for the upcoming season. The individual players will be looking to pad their resume for the national rankings to improve on the ranking in the NCAA, according to ITATennis.com.
"This is a good tournament for us to play in," Troy head coach Eric Hayes said. "It will be good for our young players to be tested and play against some of the best players and teams in the country. This tournament will prepare us for what we will face throughout the season."
The Trojans will face some of the toughest competition the southeast, southwest and midwest has to offer this weekend as they will face four teams - three of which are ranked. The host Bulldogs enter the tournament ranked as the fourth-best team in the country, while the University of Texas enters the tournament ranked 31st and Georgia State 51st overall according to the ITATennis.com rankings. Kansas State is the only unranked opponent that the Trojans will face this weekend, but will be a tough test as they play in the Big 12.
"We will just get matches," Hayes said. "It will get us in shape and we need to get results. We won't have any excuses but to get results, and that is what we are looking for. We are looking to be successful against anyone we play, and anything else will be a disappointment.
"Six of the nine players are freshmen on this year's women's team, and we picked up a good recruit here late. So the women are going to be young but very talented heading into the season."
The Trojans will have a new look to this year's team, as the top two players on last year's team - Rawia Elsisi and Annabelle Bares - both graduated. Also gone from last year are Mirte De Bakker and Caroline Jouanin, meaning the 2010 team will be a lot of fresh faces when they hit the court.
Although they are young, they are battle-tested after the fall when several of the players played in the USTA Tournament hosted by Troy - led by Karoline Grymel who challenged in several of the tournaments she played in during the fall. Freshman Lauren Simpson, Rosaura Ramirez-Vega and Emma Smith will provide depth and stability to a line-up that features three returning players. Those returning players include Stephanie Vieira, Leonie Guijt and Gabriella Veiga. The only other player on the roster is freshman Kelly Irving, who will miss some (if not all) of the season due to a wrist injury suffered in the fall.
The Trojans open the regular portion of their schedule with five consecutive road matches beginning January 22 against Florida Gulf Coast University.
