March 6, 2011
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s tennis team didn’t allow a cold and windy day in Atlanta to cool their ambitions towards opening Atlantic Coast Conference play with a win, and the Yellow Jackets downed the Florida State Seminoles 6-1 on Sunday at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
The win improves 17th-ranked Georgia Tech to 8-1 and 1-0 in ACC play, while the loss drops the 36th-ranked Seminoles to 5-6 and 0-2 in conference action.
“I knew when we went outside it was going to be cold and tough conditions, but I told the guys to go out and play hard and not worry about playing their best tennis, just worry about having champion attitudes,” head coach Kenny Thorne said. “I think we came out in doubles and did that right away. I didn’t see any negativity at all. We were moving aggressively and doing the things we needed to do. We got on top of them quick and I think that set the tone right away. Florida State came out in the singles matches and got on top of us quick in a couple of matches. I know down on courts five and six they got on us pretty quick, but Dean came back well to counter it. All the way through, it was a very good win for us. It wasn’t pretty conditions, but a very good win.”
The Yellow Jackets got off to a quick start, grabbing early leads at the number one and two doubles positions.
Despite falling behind 2-0 early, Georgia Tech’s number three team of Guillermo Gomez and Dean O’Brien came back to beat the Seminoles’ pair of Clint Bowles and Blake Davis, 8-4, and give the Yellow Jackets an early advantage in the doubles matches.
The 15th-ranked duo of Juan Spir and Kevin King jumped out to a 3-1 lead over the Seminoles’ team of Vahid Mirzadeh and Connor Smith and clinched the doubles point for Tech with an 8-4 victory.
Tech’s team of Eliot Potvin and Ryan Smith battled back and forth with FSU’s Anderson Reed and Andres Bucaro before pulling ahead and finishing off an 8-5 win to complete the doubles sweep for the Yellow Jackets.
Florida State’s Jordan Kelly-Houston put up a 6-1, 6-0 win over Tech’s Magin Ortiga on court five to tie the score at 1, but the Jackets would claim the next three matches and clinch the dual win over the Seminoles.
Kevin King matched Kelly-Houston with a quick 6-1, 6-0 win of his own over the Seminoles’ Blake Davis in the number four spot of the lineup. Senior Dean O’Brien rallied from an early deficit to claim a 7-5 first set win over FSU’s Anderson Reed and earned the match win with a 6-2 second set victory.
“As soon as someone puts a point on the board, if you can counter it quickly, just to keep ahead it helps,” Thorne added. “If you can get off the court quickly, which Kevin did a great job of, in the second set he stepped up and closed the guy out. That was very important for us. You can just see how momentum shifts as soon as that happens. They had a little bit and we got it right back.
On court three, Eliot Potvin won the first set 6-4 over Connor Smith, but fell behind early in the second set before coming back to win 7-5 and clinching the match for Georgia Tech.
Sophomore Juan Spir and senior Guillermo Gomez added a pair of wins at the top of the lineup to provide the final margin of victory for the Yellow Jackets.
Spir battled back and forth with Florida State’s 60th-ranked Clint Bowles before earning a 7-5, 7-6 (9-7) win on court two. Gomez earned a tough 6-4 first set win over FSU’s 21st-ranked Vahid Mirzadeh, but fell 6-2 in the second set. Gomez bounced back and earned a 6-2 third set win and the match.
Georgia Tech will step out of conference for a pair of matches this week before heading south to face Miami. The Yellow Jackets will host William & Mary on Wednesday and Illinois State on Thursday, with both matches beginning at 2:30 p.m. at the Bill Moore Tennis Center and free to the public. Tech will resume ACC action on Sunday, March 13 at Miami.
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Match Results
#36 Florida State vs. #17 Georgia Tech
March 6, 2011 at Atlanta, Ga.
#17 Georgia Tech 6, #36 Florida State 1
Singles competition:
1. #16 Guillermo Gomez (GT) def. #21 Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU), 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
2. #50 Juan Spir (GT) def. #60 Clint Bowles (FSU), 7-5, 7-6(9-7)
3. Eliot Potvin (GT) def. Connor Smith (FSU), 6-4, 7-5
4. Kevin King (GT) def. Blake Davis (FSU), 6-1, 6-0
5. Jordan Kelly-Houston (FSU) def. Magin Ortiga, 6-1, 6-0
6. Dean O’Brien (GT) def. Anderson Reed (FSU), 7-5, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. #15 Juan Spir/Kevin King (GT) def. #13 Vahid Mirzadeh/Connor Smith (FSU), 8-4
2. Eliot Potvin/Anderson Reed (GT) def. Anderson Reed/Andres Bucaro (FSU), 8-5
3. Guillermo Gomez/Dean O’Brien (GT) def. Clint Bowles/Blake Davis (FSU), 8-4
Match Notes:
#36 Florida State 5-6, 0-2 ACC
#17 Georgia Tech 8-1, 1-0 ACC
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,4,6,3,2,1)
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