May 7, 2015
THE FLATS – After earning its first NCAA regional bid since 2011, Georgia Tech faces 17th-ranked Columbia for its opening-round match at 1 p.m. Eastern time Friday, May 8, at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Mississippi.
Ole Miss Regional home page | Complete NCAA notes
REGIONAL INFORMATION – Tech (14-12) received an at-large bid and is one of 10 teams selected from the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Columbia (14-5) is the automatic qualifier from the Ivy League. Host Ole Miss (17-8) received an at-large bid from the Southeastern Conference and will meet SWAC automatic qualifier Alabama State (12-15) at 4 p.m. ET on Friday. The two winners will square off in the second round at 2 p.m. ET Saturday, May 9, with that winner advancing to the round of 16 in the NCAA Championship finals, beginning May 14 at the Hurd Tennis Center on the campus of Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
This is Tech’s second trip to Oxford for an NCAA regional, having lost to Auburn in the opening round there in 2003. Tickets for the NCAA first and second rounds are $7 per day or $10 for the entire session, and $3 for students college-aged and younger.
The 64-team field includes 31 automatic qualifiers as conference champions and 33 at-large teams. Oklahoma is the No. 1 overall seed and one of the 16 hosts along with Baylor, Duke, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Southern California, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, UCLA, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
TEAM UPDATES – Georgia Tech (14-12, 4-8 ACC), No. 42 in the most recent ITA rankings, finished the regular season in 10th place in the Atlantic Coast Conference after knocking off 8th-ranked Duke in the regular season finale. But the Yellow Jackets advanced to the semifinals of the ACC Championship, defeating No. 35 Notre Dame, 4-0, in the opening round, then upending No. 14 Virginia Tech, 4-3, in the quarterfinals. No. 11 Wake Forest eliminated Tech, 4-0, in the semifinals.
Columbia carries a seven-match winning streak into its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance. The Yellow Jackets are familiar with the Lions, who participated in Tech’s MLK Invitational in mid-January. Tech won five of nine singles matches between the two teams, but Columbia won all three doubles matches. Tech is 3-0 all-time against the Lions in dual matches, with the last meeting occurring in 1971.
The Jackets last met Ole Miss in 1988 and are 1-3 against the Rebels, who enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 14 overall seed and have a 10-1 record at home this season. Ole Miss is ranked 14th nationally and has been inside the top 15 for 11 straight weeks, and advanced to the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. The Rebels are hosting a regional for the 12th time and the third time in the last four years.
TECH’S NCAA HISTORY – In Georgia Tech’s last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011, the Yellow Jackets hosted a regional advanced to the round of 16 by defeating Middle Tennessee State and Mississippi State. Tech then lost to No. 2 seed Southern California in Stanford, Calif. … That is the only time Tech has made it out of a regional in the current format of the championship … Tech has made the NCAA Championship field for the 11th time under head coach Kenny Thorne and the 15th time in program history … The Jackets’ deepest run in the NCAAs came in 1994, when Tech won three matches before being eliminated … Tech is 9-14 all-time in NCAA Championship competition.
SINGLES UPDATE – Freshman Christopher Eubanks (Atlanta, Ga.), who has played at the top of Tech’s lineup in its last 17 matches, is ranked 53rd in this week’s ITA singles rankings and has received a bid to the NCAA Singles Championship, which will commence May 20, following the conclusion of the team championship. The All-ACC freshman has three wins over opponents ranked in the top 20 and is 6-9 at the top spot, 14-11 in dual matches overall.
Sophomore Carlos Benito (Madrid, Spain), who is 18-7 this spring, has played every spot in the lineup except No. 1, and has a 5-5 mark at his current No. 2 position, where he has played the last nine matches. His victory over 59th-ranked Raphael Hemmeler was the deciding point in Tech’s victory 4-3 victory over Duke in the Jackets’ regular-season finale, and he also earned the fourth point of a 4-3 win against No. 14 Virginia Tech with his win over 64th-ranked Amerigo Contini in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
Junior Nathan Rakitt (Marietta, Ga.), freshman Michael Kay (Alpharetta, Ga.), sophomore Cole Fiegel (Alachua, Fla.) and senior Eduardo Segura (Madrid, Spain) have played 3-through-6 in the lineup in Tech’s last four matches. Fiegel has had a strong spring with a 17-9 dual match record, while Segura is 14-9 in dual matches and a team-best 29-14 in singles for the year. In victories over Duke, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech, Segura was the first to finish and earn a point for Tech in singles.
Against Columbia in the MLK Invitational in January, Benito, Kay, Fiegel, Segura and freshman Elijah Melendez all won singles matches against the Lions. Columbia’s top singles player, Winston Lin, is ranked 17th nationally, while Dragos Ignat is ranked No. 108.
DOUBLES UPDATE – Tech has won the doubles point in 14 of 26 matches this spring, and did so in each of its victories over Duke, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. Benito and Segura, No. 61 in the ITA doubles rankings, moved back into the top spot against Duke and won their matches in each of those contests. They are 10-5 at that position this spring. Eubanks and Kay played No. 1 the previous two weekends for the Jackets, but moved back the No. 2 spot for the last four matches, where they are 7-5. Rakitt and Fiegel are 6-3 at No. 3, 7-6 overall this spring.
Columbia has two doubles teams ranked in the top 50 nationally – Ashok Narayana/Max Schnur (No. 40) and Winston Lin/Mike Vermeer (No. 46).
HEAD COACH Kenny Thorne SAYS – “I don’t think there will be too many rematches (from the teams’ earlier matches in January in Atlanta). They’re a really good team, a veteran team. They have quite a few seniors on their team and did a great job in last year’s NCAAs, making it to the Sweet 16. They’ve got a lot of experience. It does help having seen them earlier this season. I don’t think we’ll have the matchups that we had then, but we do know the players, and they know us. It should be a great match.”
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S TENNIS
Georgia Tech’s men’s tennis team is in its 17th year under head coach Kenny Thorne. The Yellow Jackets have played in the NCAA Championship 14 times. Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Tennis on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on Twitter (@GT_MTEN). For more information on Tech men’s tennis, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
