Jan. 18, 2015
THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech men’s tennis team won five of nine singles matches and one doubles match Sunday as they battled 16th-ranked Columbia on the second day of the MLK Invitational at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.
Tech sophomore Carlos Benito recorded his fifth straight victory this spring, defeating 124th-ranked Mike Vermeer, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. As he did in his match Saturday, Benito fell behind early and dropped the first set, but battled back and claimed the second set 6-3. He overwhelmed Vermeer to win the third set, 6-3.
The Yellow Jackets claimed four other singles victories in straight sets. Senior Eduardo Segura defeated Max Schnur, 6-3, 6-4, sophomore Cole Fiegel knocked off Bert Vancura, 6-4, 6-4, and freshmen Michael Kay fended off a late charge from the Lions’ Eric Rubin to win, 6-1, 7-5. Yellow Jackets freshman Elijah Mendez picked up the Yellow Jackets final win of Sunday afternoon, finishing off Richard Pham, 6-4, 6-4.
“I think we finished some matches really well,” said Coach Thorne. “When we had opportunities, we finished it out. Overall, I think it was definitely a good day for us. We got some good wins in there. And Columbia is a very good team so it shows that we’re close. We’re fighting hard and doing what we set out to do.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Benito and Segura picked up Tech’s lone victory out of four doubles matches, defeating the Columbia pair of Schnur and Dragos Ignat, 6-2.
“We didn’t work people all the way through the sets in doubles play,” said head coach Kenny Thorne. “But Eddie and Carlos played as well as they should be playing. So that was a good match for them.”
Tech closes out play in the MLK Invitational Monday afternoon when they take on 8th-ranked Georgia at 2 p.m., following a match between No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 16 Columbia at 9 a.m.
MLK INVITATIONAL
Sunday, January 18, 2015 at Atlanta, Ga. (Ken Byers Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
#15 Nathan Pasha (Georgia) def. #33 Dane Webb (Oklahoma) 7-6 (9-7), 6-4
#14 Axel Alvarez Llamas (Oklahoma) def. #11 Austin Smith (Georgia) 6-3, 6-4
#50 Alex Ghilea (Oklahoma) def. #101 Nick Wood (Georgia) 6-4, 6-7, 7-5
Jose Antonio Salazar (Oklahoma) def. Paul Oosterbaan (Georgia) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
Ben Wagland (Georgia) def. Florin Bragusi (Oklahoma) 7-6, 7-5
Austin Siegel (Oklahoma) def. Eric Diaz (Georgia) 3-6, 6-0, 6-4
Peter Bertran (Georgia) def. Elijah Melendez (Georgia Tech) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
#22 Winston Lin (Columbia) def. #49 Nathan Rakitt (Georgia Tech) 6-1, 6-2
Dragos Ignat (Columbia) def. Christopher Eubanks (Georgia Tech) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
Eduardo Segura (Georgia Tech) def. Max Schnur (Columbia) 6-3, 6-4
Michael Kay (Georgia Tech) def. Eric Rubin (Columbia) 6-1, 7-5
Carlos Benito (Georgia Tech) def. #124 Mike Vermeer (Columbia) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Cole Fiegel (Georgia Tech) def. Bert Vancura (Columbia) 6-4, 6-4
Shawn Hadavi (Columbia) def. Daniel Yun (Georgia Tech) 6-3, 6-3
Elijah Melendez (Georgia Tech) def. Richard Pham (Columbia) 6-4, 6-4
Miguel Alda (Columbia) def. Casey Kay (Georgia Tech) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles competition
#38 Axel Alvarez Llamas/Dane Webb (Oklahoma) def. #16 Ben Wagland/Paul Oosterbaan (Georgia) 6-3
#34 Eric Diaz/Austin Smith (Georgia) def. Florin Bragusi/Alex Ghilea (Oklahoma) 6-4
Nathan Pasha/Nick Wood (Georgia) def. Jose Antonio Salazar/Austin Siegel (Oklahoma) 6-4
Carlos Benito/Eduardo Segura (Georgia Tech) def. Max Schnur/Dragos Ignat (Columbia) 6-2
Winston Lin/Mike Vermeer (Columbia) def. Christopher Eubanks/Nathan Rakitt (Georgia Tech) 6-4
Richard Pham/Bert Vancura (Columbia) def. Casey Kay/Michael Kay (Georgia Tech) 6-4
Eric Rubin/Miguel Alda (Columbia) def. Cole Fiegel/Elijah Melendez (Georgia Tech) 6-4
All matches played indoors
