October 12, 2016
In This Issue
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Safety A.J. Gray trying to change mindset
Georgia Tech safety A.J. Gray was credited with six tackles in the Yellow Jackets' loss to Pittsburgh, tying his season and career high. It was the result of Pitt playing a lot of the game on the perimeter and being more determined to make plays, he said Monday.
Gray said that, in reviewing game video, safeties coach Andy McCollum told him not to assume that someone else was going to make a play, but to go make it himself.
"So that's what I did," he said. "That's what I'm going to continue to do because that'll make me more effective, more useful on the team."
Gray has not played poorly through the first six games of the season, but has not been a dynamic contributor, either. He made a considerable impression as a freshman last season and in spring practice, to the point that coach Paul Johnson predicted prior to the preseason that Gray had the opportunity to be "one of the all-time great players at Georgia Tech."
Through six games, Gray has 23 tackles, tied for fourth on the team. He does not have any interceptions, forced fumbles or pass breakups, the sort of impact plays that the Tech defense has needed this season.
Head Coach
Paul Johnson's
Press Conference
Previewing Pitt
Opening Statement:
"I was proud of the effort [at Pittsburgh]. I thought our guys played hard, [we] just came up a play or two short. Seems like that's kind of how it's been happening lately. Put it in the rearview mirror and move on. We're getting ready to play a really talented Georgia Southern team. They've got some really good skill guys, especially offensively -- the quarterback, running backs, receivers. It's a pretty veteran group, a lot of the same guys we played here a couple of year ago. It's going to be a tough, hard-fought game."
On coaching against his former team (Georgia Southern) and whether that makes it more important to him personally (Johnson was an assistant coach at GS from 1983-86 and head coach from 1997-2001):
"
Other than wanting to win the game, not really. I still have a ton of friends there and a lot of support. I've got really fond memories of the place. When I was there, we were very successful. My last two years as the offensive coordinator and the five as the head coach, we were 26-4 and 62-10.
"But that's all history. Now we're trying to get ready to play and, having been there, I'm trying to make our guys understand how excited they're going to be have a chance to come in here and play. We've got to be able to match their intensity and be ready to play.
"The last time they came, we did to start with and then we kind of felt like it was over at halftime and, to their credit, they came back guns blazing. We've got to be ready to play one of our better games."
On the current team goals
"Our goal is to try to win the fourth game this week. Take it one game at a time and try to win No. 4 and get back on the winning streak as opposed to the other way. You can't look at the end of the season. There are still six games left. I was saying [to the team] yesterday, `You've still got a chance to win nine games.' If you did that, that would be the eighth or ninth time in 49 years that it's happened. That would be considered a pretty good year, I think. I would consider nine wins a really good year. Now that won't achieve our goals that we set to start with -- to try to win the division and get in the [ACC] championship game. As crazy as our division is, who knows? You just keep playing. You just keep playing and see what happens. I've seen everybody now on tape with the exception of Virginia Tech -- and I watched them play a little bit, I know they're really good defensively -- but I don't know that anybody else is just way better than anybody else. So there's going to be a lot of teams beating each other, I think."
On Georgia Southern's offense, compared to 2014
"I think probably not the same emphasis but the same stuff. That's what it looks like to me. I think they're trying to do a lot of the same things that they did when [former head coach] Willie [Fritz] was there, offensively. Defensively, they're a little different but they're still pretty similar."
Georgia Southern Head Coach
Press Conference Previewing
"Interesting scenario. Obviously, Coach Johnson and the tremendous amount of success he had here at Georgia Southern. Another member of their staff, offensive line coach Mike Sewak, was a head coach at Georgia Southern as well. His son, Nick Sewak, plays for us. So, a number of things going on there.
"Really good players in B-Back Dedrick Mills, and Clinton Lynch. Justin Thomas who is both a tremendous runner and passer in what they do. Good receivers outside like Ricky Jeune and Brad Stewart, a guy who's from right down the road from us in Statesboro.
Defensively,
Ted Roof has good players.
Patrick Gamble, P.J. Davis. An in-state game for us. We played two years ago and felt like, coming out of that, we had our opportunities and should have been able to make it. So, it'll be an exciting trip for us in Atlanta this week.
On having a few extra days to prepare for GT (last game 10/5)
"You would think that we have extra days but we had a mild weather issue here
(Hurricane Matthew).
"I'm trying to add some humor to it. We were trying to take care of our families and our community. So, although we have been able to spend time with the staff, we really haven't been able to spend extra time with our players, the way that you would think.
With the Paul Johnson influence at Georgia Southern, playing an offense that is similar to yours.
"We're option, but we're out of the gun when we do it. There is some advantage when you have a defense that is used to going against the option. It gives you a little bit of a leg up."
ESPN's ACC Week 6 Power Rankings: Watch out for
Virginia Tech
Clemson is secure at the top of the ACC Power Rankings, but there could be a new favorite from the Coastal to challenge the Tigers.
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#1 Clemson Tigers (6-0, 3-0)
LW - Beat Boston College 56-10
The Tigers were not going to lose to the Eagles, but credit Clemson for not even letting Boston College hang around. The game was over by the end of the first quarter despite it coming on short rest after the emotional Louisville win.
2. Louisville Cardinals (4-1, 2-1) LW, Bye Week
The Cardinals
' playoff chances took a bit of a hit during the bye week as Houston fell from the ranks of the undefeated in an upset loss to Navy. Louisville needed to be the one to beat Houston.
3. Virginia Tech Hokies
(4-1, 2-0) LW: Beat UNC 34-3
Not enough people are talking about the job Justin Fuente is doing in his first season in Blacksburg. The Hokies are rolling, and they just dismantled the reigning Coastal Division champion Tar Heels.
4. N. Carolina Tar Heels (4-2, 2-1)
LW: Lost to Virginia Tech 34-3
Saturday's setback against Virginia Tech was a tough home loss for the Tar Heels, who did not respond well to the rain and wind. They need some help to get back to the ACC title game, but this is still a talented group.
5. FSU Seminoles (4-2, 1-2)
LW: Beat Miami 20-19
Florida State vs. Miami always seems to deliver a classic, and after so many heartbreaking losses when the rivalry was heating up, the Seminoles are starting to exact revenge. No one plays harder than DeMarcus Walker, and he possibly righted Florida State's season with his PAT block to secure a 20-19 victory.
#6 Miami Hurricanes (4-1, 1-1) LW - Lost to Florida State 20-19
The Hurricanes let another one slip away to the Seminoles as they blew another late lead and then had the game-tying PAT attempt blocked. The Miami defense is for real, however, and overall this is a team still good enough to win the Coastal.
ACC FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Friday, October 14
Duke @ Louisville, 7:00pm, ESPN
Saturday, October 15
North Carolina State
@ Clemson,
Noon, ABC
Georgia Southern @
Georgia Tech 12:30pm, FSNS
Pitt @
Virginia,
12:30pm, ACC Network
North Carolina @
Miami
3:30pm, ABC
Syracuse @
Wake Forest, 7:00pm, RSN
Wake Forest @
Florida State
3:30 pm, ESPN
Virginia Tech @ Syracuse
3:45pm, ESPNU
Men Sweep, Women Split in ACC Double Dual Meet at BC
The Georgia Tech swimming and diving team posted a strong start to its Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) season on Saturday afternoon, as the men's team swept both host Boston College and Pittsburgh, while the women's team routed the Eagles, but fell to the Panthers at the Boston College Flynn Complex Pool in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
The men's team outscored Boston College 231-68 and bested Pittsburgh 199-100. The women's team defeated Boston College 249-50, but fell to Pittsburgh 162-137.
Men's Highlights
Junior Moises Loschi recorded three wins on the afternoon, finishing first in the 1000 free (9:37.22), in the 100 breast (55.64) and in the 500 free (4:34.89). Both of his winning times in the 100 breast and 500 free sets new Flynn Complex Pool records.
Co-captain Rodrigo Quadros Correia also scored multiple wins on the day with his first-place showings in the 200 free (1:38.04) and the 100 free (44.73), both of which were new Flynn Complex Pool records.
Senior Ben Southern earned a win at the 200 fly with his time of 1:50.16, also a new pool record, while fellow upperclassman Alex Goerzen touched the wall first in the 200 back with a time of 1:50.80. Goerzen finished just in front of both Robert Borowicz (1:51.48) and Mark Keaveney (1:51.78) who placed second and fourth overall for the event.
Women's Highlights
Sophomore Iris Wang led the Yellow Jackets on the women's side of the double dual meet, as she posted wins in the 200 free (1:52.30) and the 100 free (51.21), the latter being a pool complex record, while newcomer Kaitlin Kitchens set a season-best time of 23.51 to win the 50 free, besting Wang who took third overall with a time of 23.78, and picked up a first-place finish in the 100 fly with a time of 56.54.
Four freshmen finished 1-4 in the 200 fly led by Emily Ilgenfritz's first-place time of 2:07.11. Tamir Gonen Cohen (2:08.20), Maddie Oliver (2:08.74) and Chloe Miller (2:09.03) rounded out the top-four in the event.
The Yellow Jackets will return to the water on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21 and 22, to host Notre Dame at the McAuley Aquatic Center.
Click Here For More On Georgia Tech
Swimming & Diving
____________________________
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News & Information on Georgia Tech Team Sports
along with News from the Atlantic Coast Conference
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Yellow Jackets Return Home
To Face
Georgia Southern
Georgia Tech football hungry for win
versus in-state foe
Georgia Tech Football (3-3, 1-3 ACC) vs. GA Southern (3-2, 2-1 Sun Belt)
Sat. Oct. 15, 12:30pm Atlanta, Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field (55,000)
TV: FoxSportsSouth Where To Watch;
Play-by-Play: Wes Durham,
Analyst: James Bates,
Sideline:
Jenn Hildreth.
Satellite:
XM 108/ Sirius 202
Play-by-Play:
Andy Demetra;
Analyst,
Sean Bedford;
Sideline
Randy Waters
Looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking 37-34 loss at Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech steps out of ACC play to welcome in-state foe Georgia Southern to Bobby Dodd Stadium.
* Georgia Tech (3-3, 1-3 ACC) has lost three-straight games -Â two at the hands of nationally ranked opponents (Clemson and Miami) and last Saturday's gut-wrenching defeat at Pitt.
* After trailing by as many as 11 points on two different occasions in the first half last Saturday, the Yellow Jackets rallied to take a 34-27 lead on
J.J. Green's 100-yard touchdown run with 5:22 to go. However, Pitt scored 10 points in the final 3:50 of the game - seven on a tipped pass that went 74 yards for a touchdown and the final three on a 31-yard field goal that hit the right upright but somehow fell through the goal posts for the winning points as time expired.
* Green's go-ahead touchdown was one of two that he scored last Saturday at Pitt. Earlier in the game, the junior transfer from Georgia recorded the first touchdown of his Georgia Tech career on a 96-yard kickoff return. The 96-yard return was Tech's first for a score since 2012 and the eighth-longest in program history.
* Seven of Georgia Tech's 12 losses over the last two seasons have been decided by eight points or less.
A Look At The Eagles
* Despite their campuses being separated by only 207 miles, Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern are meeting for just the second time on the gridiron.
* The only other matchup between Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern came on Sept. 13, 2014, when the Yellow Jackets escaped with a 42-38 triumph.
* Georgia Southern is 3-2 overall and 2-1 in Sun Belt Conference play.
* The Eagles are coming off a 27-26 defeat at previously winless Arkansas State on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
* Much like Tech, Georgia Southern features a run-heavy, option-based offense. The Eagles rank sixth nationally in rushing offense (286.6 ypg), seventh in time of possession (35:02 per game) and fifth in passing yards per completion (16.26).
* Five different Eagles average at least 50 rushing yards per game (RB
Matt Breida - 55.8 ypg, RB
Wesley Fields - 55.8 ypg, RB
L.A. Ramsby - 52.0 ypg, QB
Favian Upshaw - 50.8 ypg, QB
Kevin Ellison - 50.4 ypg).
* Georgia Southern leads the Sun Belt and ranks 33rd nationally in total defense (349.6 ypg), second in the league and 33rd nationally in scoring defense (21.2 ppg).
* Younghoe Koo is one of the nation's top kickers. The senior is 9-for-9 on field-goal attempts and ranks third nationally in field goals made per game (2.25).
* The Eagles are led by first-year head coach
Tyson Summers, who came to Georgia Southern in the offseason after serving as the defensive coordinator at Colorado State in 2015. His resume also includes stints as an assistant coach at Georgia Southern (2006) and Georgia (2005). He replaced
Willie Fritz, who coached Georgia Southern for two seasons before becoming the head coach at Tulane prior to this season.
* Summers inherited a veteran squad, with 20 of the 26 players listed as starters on its two-deep being juniors or seniors.
* Georgia Southern is 20-9 overall and 16-3 in Sun Belt Conference play since joining the NCAA Division I FBS ranks in 2014. The Eagles won the 2014 Sun Belt championship with an 8-0 league record.
Click Here
for Georgia Tech's 2016 Football Schedule/Results
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~ Scouting The Competition ~
Georgia Southern Eagles
Here are 10 things of interest about Georgia Southern's non-conference game at Georgia Tech.
10. Tech head coach
Paul Johnson spent four seasons as an assistant coach (1983-86) and five seasons as head coach (1997-2001) at Georgia Southern. Johnson helped lead the Eagles to two NCAA Division I-AA national championships as an assistant (1985, '86) and two more national titles as head coach (1999, 2000). He was 62-10 in his six seasons at the helm of the Eagles.
9. Georgia Tech offensive line coach
Mike Sewak spent seven seasons as an assistant coach (1985-86, 1997- 2001) and four seasons as head coach (2002-05) at Georgia Southern. His son, Nick, is a junior long snapper for the Eagles.
8: Georgia Southern has lost just 10 of 32 games in the modern era against teams from the state of Georgia (21-10-1).
7: Younghoe Koo has made all nine of his field goal attempts this year, including a 53-yarder last week at A-State.
6: Eight players who started against Georgia Tech in 2014 (23 who played) are still on Georgia Southern's roster in 2016.
5: Saturday's game is the third of seven games Georgia Southern will play in Georgia this season.
4: Georgia Southern has lost its last six non-conference road games since winning at Florida in 2013.
3: Four of the Eagles' last five games against Power 5 schools have been decided by six points or less: a six-point win at Florida (2013), a one-point loss at NCSU (2014), a four-point loss at GT (2014), and a six-point loss in OT at Georgia (2015).
2: This will be Georgia Southern's fourth game played all-time in the Atlanta Metro area. GS is 2-1 in those games.
1: Saturday's game will be the third of four straight road games for the Eagles, the longest in the FBS this season.
Click Here To Go To The Official Georgia Southern Eagles Website
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Former Yellow Jackets in the NFL
Georgia Tech ProJackets with season highs in the NFL's Week Five
Week five of the 2016-17 NFL season saw a number of #ProJackets set season-highs and show they are already in mid-season form.
Michael
Johnson
(DE, GT 2005-08)
registered a season-high six tackles, five solo and one assisted stop, in the Cincinnati Bengals road loss to the Dallas Cowboys, while outside linebacker
Derrick Morgan
(OLB, GT 2007-09)
posted a season-best four solo tackles and 2.0 sacks in the Titans' 30-17 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Philip Wheeler
(OLB, GT 2003-07) helped the Falcons extend their winning streak to four straight games in a 23-16 win over the World Champion Denver Broncos in which he tallied a season-best seven tackles, four solo and three assisted tackles, in the impressive upset win.
Safety
Morgan Burnett
(SS, GT 2007-09) returned to the field Sunday night for the Packers after missing the previous two games to record six tackles, five solo and one assisted, and also deflected a pass in Green Bay's 23-16 win over the Giants.
Offensively,
Demaryius Thomas
(WR, GT 2007-09) recorded a touchdown catch in his third straight game, as the wideout recorded five catches for 49 yards in the loss to the Falcons.
Click Here to watch an NFL Can't-Miss Play highlight of Thomas' score versus the Falcons.
Click Here For The Full Story and More on
All 16 Former Yellow Jackets Currently On NFL Rosters
Click Here To Go To Our NFL Page With Links To The Official Websites Of Every National Football League Team
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ACC Announces Game Times/Networks For Week 8
Thursday, October 20
Miami @ Virginia Tech, 7:00pm, ESPN
Saturday, October 22
NC State @ Louisville, Noon,
ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2
*
Syracuse @ Boston College, 12:30pm, ACC Network
North Carolina @ Virginia, 3:00pm, RSN
Georgia Tech has a Bye Week
* Network announced following October 15 games
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Georgia Tech's 100 Year Anniversary of 222-0 Win
On October 7, 1916, Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland 222-0, setting a record for most points in a football game that has stood the test of time for a century.
Enjoy this look back on a piece of history and hear what current Yellow Jacket players have to say about the game. This video was courtesy of GT Athletics.
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Volleyball Earns Third-Straight Sweep.
Hosts Boston College This Friday
The Georgia Tech volleyball team (13-5, 4-2 ACC) earned its third-straight sweep and eighth of the season against Virginia (3-14, 0-5) on Friday night. The win snaps a four-match losing streak against the Cavaliers. The Jackets last win against the Cavaliers had been on Oct. 6, 2012 in Atlanta.
Tech allied from a 10-6 deficit and found their rhythm to go on a 13-1 run to take a 19-11 lead. Georgia Tech held on after a late Virginia rally, and captured the opening frame 25-21. The Jackets won the second set 25-19 and closed it out with a 25-22 third set win.
"I think it was a great road trip," head coach
Michelle Collier said. "It was two hard places to play. I think that we came in to the week focused and maximized opportunities to finish the matches. Offensively we were balanced.
Teegan Van Gunst played really well in both of these matches and was really efficient.
"But we also had efficiency from other players like our middles and from the right side. I think
London Ackermann played well too and she has been consistent for us."
The Yellow Jackets return home for Alumnii Weekend to host Boston College this Friday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. on the ACC Network Extra.
The Eagles (5-11, 0-6 ACC) come in after being swept by Notre Dame (15-3, 6-0 ACC).
Click Here
to watch the match.
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Georgia Tech Men's Basketball Schedule Finalized
Yellow Jackets list times for non-conference games, move back weeknight games to 7:30 p.m.
Georgia Tech has finalized its 2016-17 men's  basketball schedule with tip-off times for all of its November and December games, and has moved back its weeknight non-conference games a half-hour to 7:30 p.m.
In a response to feedback from season-ticket holders and Yellow Jacket fans, weeknight home games in the non-conference schedule will begin at 7:30 p.m., a push-back designed to give basketball fans an extra half-hour to negotiate traffic and get to McCamish Pavilion in time for tipoff.
Games affected by this move include the Nov. 5 exhibition game against Shorter and regular-season home games against Southern University (Nov. 14), Sam Houston State (Nov. 22), Wofford (Dec. 22) and North Carolina A&T (Nov. 28).
"It's important that we do everything we can to fill McCamish Pavilion and give our fans every opportunity to get in their seats by tipoff," said head coach Josh Pastner.
Tech's regular-season opener against Tennessee Tech is a double-header with the women's team and will tip at 8 p.m. The Nov. 18 game against Ohio University will tip at 8 p.m. so fans can take in at least part of the Jackets' volleyball game that night against Louisville, and the Dec. 18 Alcorn State Sunday game has a 2 p.m. tip.
Tech's Nov. 26 home game against Tulane starts either at noon or 7:30 p.m., depending on when the Yellow Jackets' football game at UGA kicks off the same day.
Click Here For The GT 2016-17 Men's Basketball Schedule
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Per Chance To Dream:
Coach Jo likes where the women's basketball team is, is going early on
 For a lot of college coaches, not returning their top two scorers, top two rebounders, top two free throw shooters and top two assist-makers is the stuff of dreams -- bad dreams.
Don't count Georgia Tech Women's Basketball coach MaChelle Joseph among them.
Joseph faced that exact potential dilemma in looking ahead to 2016-17.
Yet she not only hasn't lost any sleep over the graduation of Aaliyah Whiteside, last season's leading scorer in the ACC, and Roddreka Rogers, the team's leading rebounder the last two seasons, the completion of eligibility of locker room leader Irene Gari and the transfer of fiery point Ciani Cryor, it sounds like she's sleeping better than ever, with visions of ACC wins and an NCAA Tournament bid dancing in her head.
The key to these happy Z's is focusing on what she has.
"We are returning probably the most talented team, the deepest team, the hardest-working team that I've ever put on the court here in the 13 years I've been at Georgia Tech," said Joseph, the winningest coach in program history, who will open the '16-17 campaign with a 252-162 record. "The first couple of practices have shown me that we have an opportunity to do something very special with this group."
Click Here For The GT 2016-17 Women's Basketball Schedule
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Georgia Tech's Luke Schniederjans named
ACC Men's Golfer of the Month
Georgia Tech's Luke Schniederjans has been named the ACC Men's Golfer of the Month for September, announced last Wednesday by the conference office. Schniederjans, the younger brother of three-time All-American Ollie Schniederjans, won the first collegiate tournament in which he played, holding off pursuers from Auburn, Virginia and North Florida during the final round to score a 1-stroke victory at the Carpet Capital Collegiate (11-under-par 205) in mid-September. He shot all three rounds under par (69-66-70) en route to the individual title. 
The freshman from Powder Springs, Georgia, followed that with a tie for 13th at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate on a desert-style course (5-under-par 208). Schniederjans has broken 70 in four of his first six collegiate rounds, has a team-best 68.83 stroke average in six rounds and is ranked No. 19 nationally in the Golfweek/Sagarin Index.
Schniederjans and the 22nd-ranked Yellow Jackets return to action Oct. 21-23 when they host the 11th annual Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate in Alpharetta, Ga.
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Georgia Tech's Luke Schniederjans named
ACC Men's Golfer of the Month
Georgia Tech men's tennis Cole Fiegel and Phillip Gresk topped Tennessee's Steven Karl and Preston Touliatos, 8-6 to take the doubles title at the Georgia Tech Invitational on Sunday morning. The day topped off a full weekend of tennis at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex where the Yellow Jackets racked up a total of 19 wins in the tournament.
Assistant coach Derek Schwandt says: "I think we're at a key point in our season; the guys are going to have to take ownership and make a decision for how they want to improve and how good
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Senior Cole Fiegel |
they want to be. We have a lot of talent on the team and we need to have clarity with our identity on the court and our purpose and that's up to the guys. I'm excited to see the direction that we take here. We're not going to accept mediocrity and I believe that the guys are excited about the work that we have ahead of us."
Up next: Junior Christopher Eubanks heads to Malibu, Calif. to play in the Oracle ITA Masters this Thursday, Oct. 13. You can watch the tournament live by clicking here. Eubanks' historic run at the Saint Francis Health Systems ITA All-American Championships came to an end on Saturday afternoon when he fell to Florida's No. 37 Alfredo Perez in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. Eubanks knocked off competitors Jordan Daigel (LSU), Billy Griffith (California) and Christian Seraphim (Wake Forest) on his run to the quarterfinals. The Atlanta native is the first Yellow Jacket to play in the quarterfinals at the ITA All-American Championships.
Meanwhile, the rest of the squad looks ahead to ITA Regional Championships from Oct. 19-24 in Tallahassee, Fla.
Click Here For The GT 2016-17 Men's Tennis Schedule
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Atlantic Coast Conference News
Keep us with the latest Atlantic Coast Conference team sports. Our website has links to the official websites of every ACC team with extensive coverage of everything going on with all major campus sports.
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