May 14, 2016
Los Angeles, Calif. – Christopher Eubanks won his singles match and Georgia Tech won the doubles point Saturday, but the Yellow Jackets fell to No. 11 Southern California, 4-2, in the second round of the NCAA regional at Marks Stadium on the University of Southern California campus.
Tech’s season came to an end with a 17-9 record, while Southern California (16-6) advanced to the NCAA Championship round of 16, which begins May 19 in Tulsa, Okla.
The Yellow Jackets took the upper hand by winning the doubles point for the 20th time in 26 matches this season. Nathan Rakitt and Andrew Li scored a 6-3 win over Rob Bellamy and Tanner Smith, and Eubanks and Carlos Benito needed a tiebreaker to secure the point , defeating Thibault Forget and Max deVroome, 7-6 (7-5).
Forget, ranked No. 121 nationally in singles, made up for the doubles loss by taking a 6-3, 6-3 win over Daniel Yun on court 4 to tie the match.
Eubanks, ranked No. 7, gave Tech the lead back on court 1, defeating No. 23 deVroome, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), but that was all the scoring Tech would get as the Trojans scored the next three points. No. 41 Nick Crystal took a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 113 Benito on court 2 to tie the match again, and the Trojans took the lead on court 5 when Jack Jade outlasted Rakitt in three sets, 6-1, 6-7, 6-1.
Logan Smith, ranked 69th, earned the clinching point for USC with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 decision over Cole Fiegel.
HEAD COACH Kenny Thorne SAYS – “That was an absolute battle, and USC deserves a lot of credit for holding us off. I’m proud of our team and the way we left it all out there, but we are definitely disappointed we didn’t make the sweet 16. I’m proud of our seniors Nathan and Casey, who led this team extremely well all season. They left the team in a much better place than when they arrived. The future is bright for this team. Is it too early to say I’m excited about next year already?”
NOTABLE – Eubanks improved to 21-2 in dual matches this spring, 34-6 overall. He is the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Singles Championship, which begins May 25 in Tulsa … Benito and Eubanks are 16-4 as a doubles team this spring.
TECH NCAA HISTORY – Georgia Tech made the NCAA Championship field for the 12th time under head coach Kenny Thorne and the 16th time in program history. Tech competed for the second straight year, having been eliminated in the opening round last year by Columbia in Oxford, Miss. Under the current format of the championship, Tech has made it to the round of 16 at the championship site only once, in 2011. The Jackets’ deepest run in the NCAAs came in 1994, when Tech won three matches before being eliminated. Tech is 10-16 all-time in NCAA Championship competition.
#11 USC 4, #32 Georgia Tech 2
NCAA Championships – Second Round
May 14, 2016 – Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Doubles
(1) #46 Crystal/Verboven (USC) def. #38 Kay/Kay (GT) – 6-1
(2) #37 Eubanks/Benito (GT) def. Forget/de Vroome (USC) – 7-6 (5)
(3) Rakitt/Li (GT) def. Bellamy/T. Smith (USC) – 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Georgia Tech wins doubles point
Singles
(1) #7 Christopher Eubanks (GT) def. #23 Max de Vroome (USC) – 6-3, 7-6 (2)
(2) #41 Nick Crystal (USC) def. #113 Carlos Benito (GT) – 6-4, 6-4
(3) #69 Logan Smith (USC) def. Cole Fiegel (GT) – 3-6, 6-3, 6-4*
(4) #121 Thibault Forget (USC) def. Daniel Yun (GT) – 6-2, 6-3
(5) Jack Jaede (USC) def. Nathan Rakitt (GT) – 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-1
(6) Rob Bellamy (USC) vs. Michael Kay (GT) – 4-6, 7-5, 3-2 unfinished
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 2, 5, 3*
