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Carol No. 7 in latest collegiate rankings
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Posted on Feb 15 2023
Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket’s Carol Lee in action in this file photo. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
Carol Lee broke into the Top 10 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s individual rankings.
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket came in at No. 7, marking the highest singles ranking of her collegiate career.
The 21-year-old owns a 13-4 singles record this season, including a 4-0 mark in dual matches, and is 9-4 overall in doubles.
Lee closed out last season at No. 24 in the final ITA singles rankings, picked up all-Athletic Coast Conference first team honors and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Singles Championship.
Lee said the No. 7 ITA standings is a great honor and something she’s thankful for.
“To be able to represent my school and my country, it means a lot to me. I hope this will give hope to many junior tennis players in my country, especially to my younger sister who is also playing tennis. I’m always thankful for my family who always has been helping me even though I haven’t been home for more than two years.”
She also thanked her father, Dong Min Lee, and her coaches at Georgia Tech for helping her become the best version of herself in the sport.
“I’m thankful for my dad especially because he always believes in me. He’s an amazing coach and a dad to me. He has helped me to keep moving forward and to do better. I would like to thank my country for the support. I would like to thank my coaches, Rodney Harmon and Alexis Casati, for believing in me and helping me in many ways.”
CNMI national tennis coach and CNMI Sports Hall of Famer Jeff Race also gave props to Lee for again putting the CNMI on the map.
“I’m very proud of Carol and happy for her and her family. Out of many thousands of women playing tennis in U.S. colleges and universities she is No. 7. It’s really astounding. I know that she has become much tougher mentally to get to that level in the last couple of years. Yet off the court she is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet,” he said.
Lee is not the lone Yellow Jacket in the Top 50 of the ITA as teammate Kylie Blichev rose to No. 47 after her successful start to the dual season. The reigning ACC Player of the Week after defeating two ranked singles players, Bilchev is 11-4 overall in singles play and 4-0 in dual matches.
