ATLANTA, GA.- Georgia Southern men's tennis hits the road for Georgia Tech to battle the Yellow Jackets on Saturday at 12pm. This match marks the first of 2014 for the Eagles.

"We're excited to get into competition this weekend," said head coach Nick Zieziula. "We've had a good week of preseason to prepare before classes start, but competition is where we will really learn about where we are development-wise."

Last time out, the Eagles participated in the Elon Invitational where they faced players from James Madison, Georgia State, Tennessee Tech, UNCG, UNC Asheville, Winthrop, N.C. Central, USC Upstate, North Carolina Wesleyan, and Bluefield College. Christian Kerrigan, Marco Osorio, Nico DeGroof, and Kyle Hoffman all brought home some wins.

On Tuesday, the Eagles took a break from preseason training for a few hours to visit the Center for Wildlife Education. Sophomore Rafael Racy was surprised with a corn snake placed in his hands, and junior Albert Codina Sala held a king snake. Assistant coach Carlos Oyaga courageously showed a Madagascar hissing cockroach to the crowd. Later, the whole team got to hold a 200-pound Boa Constrictor, and head coach Nick Zieziula got up close with it when it was wrapped around his shoulders. Finally, the Eagles got the chance to meet Freedom, Georgia Southern's live mascot. More photos from the team's visit to the Wildlife Center can be found on Facebook.

"We are grateful for Steve Hein and his staff for hosting us at the wildlife center for a very fun and educational experience," said Nick Zieziula about their visit. "Aside from the obvious learning about the wildlife, it is inspirational to hear the story of the vision that Steve and the University had to create such a unique space in the middle of campus, and to experience the fruits of their labor."

After training hard over the holidays, the Eagles are prepped and ready to take on 2014.

Results can be found shortly after Saturday's match here at GSEagles.com.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.