March 15, 2015
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech suffered a rare loss of the doubles point, and 24th-ranked Florida State picked up four singles wins in straight sets to secure a 5-2 victory and hand No. 68 Georgia Tech its first ACC loss of the spring Sunday at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.
In front of a large crowd on a brilliantly sunny afternoon, Tech fell to 9-4 overall, 2-1 in the ACC, while the Seminoles improved to 12-5 and evened their conference record at 2-2.
With the doubles point in hand, Florida State quickly grabbed the first two singles points as Marco Nunez downed 84th-ranked Nathan Rakitt (Marietta, Ga.), 6-3, 6-2, on court 2, and 79th-ranked Michael Rinaldi defeated Tech’s Carlos Benito (Madrid, Spain), 6-2, 6-4, on court 3.
Eduardo Segura (Madrid, Spain) got the Yellow Jackets on the board with a 6-3, 6-3 win on court 6 over Terrell Whitehurst, but FSU clinched the match shortly thereafter on court 5, where Jose Gracia won a second-set tiebreaker to hand Tech freshman Michael Kay a 6-4, 7-6 (3) loss.
The Seminoles seized the momentum by taking the doubles point with victories at No. 2 and 3. All three matches were tight early, but Rinaldi and Cristian Gonzalez-Mendez pulled away for an 8-5 win over Tech freshmen Christopher Eubanks (Atlanta, Ga.) and Kay on court 2, while Terrence and Terrell Whitehurst downed Cole Fiegel (Alachua, Fla.) and Casey Kay (Atlanta, Ga.) by the same score.
“We were about eight or nine games into doubles and there were no breaks for anybody,” said Tech coach Kenny Thorne. “Then we got a break at one, and they got breaks at two and three, and we could never get the team momentum back. They got on top of us and kept us down.”
After the match was decided. Benjamin Lock completed a rally from a first-set loss to defeat the 66th-ranked Eubanks, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, for the Seminoles’ fifth point. Fiegel got the second Tech point with a 6-4, 7-5 win on court 4 against Gonzelez-Mendez.
“We just need to continue to get better, and we have a lot of opportunities coming up next week,” added Thorne. “We don’t need a lot, but we need to get back to work.”
Tech returns to action next weekend with road matches at Boston College and Notre Dame.
#24 Florida State 5, #68 Georgia Tech 2
March 15, 2015 at Atlanta, Ga. (Ken Byers Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. Benjamin Lock (FS) def. #66 Christopher Eubanks (GT) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
2. Marco Nunez (FS) def. #84 Nathan Rakitt (GT) 6-3, 6-2
3. #79 Michael Rinaldi (FS) def. Carlos Benito (GT) 6-2, 6-4
4. Cole Fiegel (GT) def. C. Gonzalez Mendez (FS) 6-4, 7-5
5. Jose Gracia (FS) def. Michael Kay (GT) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Eduardo Segura (GT) def. Terrell Whitehurst (FS) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #59 Eduardo Segura/Carlos Benito (GT) vs. #30 Benjamin Lock/Marco Nunez (FS) 6-5, unfinished
2. Michael Rinaldi/C. Gonzalez Mendez (FS) def. Christopher Eubanks/Michael Kay (GT) 8-5
3. Terrance Whitehurst/Terrell Whitehurst (FS) def. Cole Fiegel/Casey Kay (GT) 8-5
Match Notes:
Florida State 13-5, 2-2 ACC; National ranking #24
Georgia Tech 9-4, 2-1 ACC; National ranking #68
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (2,3,6,5,1,4)
T-3:19 A-300
