May 1, 2007

ATLANTA - The Georgia Tech men's tennis team earned its seventh-straight at-large berth into the NCAA Championship and 10th bid in the last 11 years when the field of 64 teams was announced Tuesday afternoon. The No. 46 Yellow Jackets (7-15) will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. to face No. 19 University of Florida (13-7) in the first round of competition on Friday, May 11 tentatively scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

The first two rounds will be held at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center on the campus of Florida State University.

"This is a great feeling to get another opportunity to do something with this team," said head coach Kenny Thorne. "I am thrilled that the NCAA committee recognized our effort and has given us this chance to prove ourselves."

The Jackets' 2007 appearance will be the 12th in the history of the program, as Thorne has now led Tech to the NCAAs in eight of his nine seasons at the helm. The Jackets enter this year's tournament with a 6-11 record in NCAA matches, including a first round win last season over 38th-ranked Alabama in Athens, Ga.

Georgia Tech is 10-30 all-time in matches against the Gators. The two schools have not met since Florida defeated the Yellow Jackets 6-3 on Feb. 23, 1991 in Gainesville, Fla. This seasons Gators feature the nations 3rd-ranked player, freshman Jesse Levine, who is a perfect 19-0 in dual meet singles play.

The Yellow Jackets have not competed in a match since a gripping 4-3 loss to Miami on April 21 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

"This season has been a real humbling experience for all of us," added Thorne. "We have been through a lot of adversity and I believe it has helped our players really grow up on and off the court. It just really says a lot about our guys. We are just happy to get this chance to try and make some noise in the tournament and we will go out and battle."

The winner of the match between Georgia Tech and Florida will advance to face the winner of 16th-seeded Florida State (16-9) and Manhattan (12-6) in the second round which will be held on Saturday, May 12. The time for the second round match is to be announced.

The winner of the second round match will advance to the Round of 16 on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Ga., beginning on May 17.

For more information or directions to the Scott Speicher Tennis Center please visit the Florida State website.

Day passes for the first and second round will begin at $5 for adults, $3 for students with I.D. and free for children under the age of two.

The entire bracket for the tournament is available at www.ncaasports.com.