Jan. 15, 2007
Atlanta – Georgia Tech, ranked No. 26 in the nation by Intercollegiate Tennis Association, opened 2007 with a strong showing this past weekend as David North and Jose Muguruza capture both the titles in Naples, Fla. at the J. Webb Horton Classic.
At the end of three days of competition, Tech’s David North and Jose Muguruza were the last men standing, defeating Chris Cloer and Ryan Boyajian of Florida State Sunday in the doubles final, 9-7. En route to their doubles championship, North and Muguruza downed Middle Tennessee State’s Marc Rocafort and Joao Pailiello, 8-6, and then the pair defeated Brandon Davis and Ryan Rowe of Illinois, 8-6.
Not to be outdone in singles competition, Tech’s All-American David North, ranked No. 36 in the country, also captured the singles championship. North defeated Bradley Mixson of Florida State, 6-1, 6-2 Saturday to earn the tournament title. To reach the singles final, North downed Jean Yves Aubone of Florida State, 7-6, 6-3 then defeated Rowe of Illinois, who is ranked No. 11 in the country, 6-1, 6-3.
“The win over Ryan Rowe, was a huge win for David,” said Georgia Tech head coach Kenny Thorne. “He played very well this weekend and I am excited about this season.”
Joining North and Muguruza in Naples were fellow Jackets seniors Zach Rath and Eric Molnar.
Rath fell to Middle Tennessee State’s Morgan Richard, 3-6, 6-7(3) then to Brandon Davis of Illinois, 2-6, 1-6 Thursday. Rath returned on the second day of competition to defeat Jordan Knue of Illinois, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, then MTSU’s Marc Boiron, 6-1, 6-2.
Eric Molnar, who joined Tech this fall as a senior transfer from Colorado, opened competition Thursday, defeating Rocafort of MTSU, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6). Molnar fell to Jean Yves Aubone of Florida State, 3-6, 3-6 then to MTSU’s Richard, 4-6, 6-2, 3-6 on Saturday. Molnar is ranked No. 100 in the country.
While the Jackets have been plagued by injury of late, Thorne is optimistic that with the return of Muguruza, the addition of a powerful player in Molnar and the significant improvement of his team, that the Jackets can compete with any team in the country, as long as they remain healthy.
The Jackets opened practice for their 2007 spring campaign on Jan.8 and will practice six days a week for two hours a day in preparation the season. Tech returns to competition Jan. 19-21 for the USF Invitational in Tampa, Fla. to face Auburn, Memphis, William & Mary and of course South Florida. The Jackets’ play their first home match on Feb. 3 at 10 a.m. when they host Georgia Southern and Radford.
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