Feb. 21, 2007
Atlanta – George Gvelesiani and Luke Rassow-Kantor close out the match with straight-set victories to lift the Yellow Jackets to their eighth-straight win over cross-town rival Georgia State at the Bill Moore Tennis Center Wednesday.
The Jackets swept doubles to jump out to a 1-0 lead but, the Panthers put up a much bigger fight in singles.
Georgia State regained their point when Martin Stiegwardt defeated Jose Muguruza, playing in the No. 1 singles spot, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.
Eric Molnar, playing in the No. 2 singles spot, battled back from three games down to force a tiebreak and win the first set 7-6 (7-5). However, Molnar, exhausted from the 45-minute set, dropped the last two, 6-1, 6-0, to Nejc Podkrajsek.
Jordan DeLass, playing in the No. 3 spot, defeated Mattias Skold, 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4 to tie the score, 2-2.
Senior Zach Rath then fell in straight sets to Andres Arango, 6-2, 6-3 giving the Panthers, who haven’t defeated the Jackets since 2000, a 3-2 lead.
Gvelesiani, playing in the No. 5 singles spot, quickly dispatched Anze Cevka, 6-1, 6-1, to tie the score 3-3, placing the Jackets’ hopes on the shoulders of freshman Rassow-Kantor. The freshman delivered.
Rassow-Kantor won the first set, 6-3 and jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the second set but State’s Augusta Alvarado would not go quietly, winning two straight games. Rassow-Kantor prevailed winning the second set 6-2 and giving Tech a 4-3 victory over their cross-town rivals.
“We are very proud of Luke for clinching the match. As a freshman and being the last match one on the court, it’s a great accomplishment,” said head coach Kenny Thorne. “Jordan (DeLass) fought through a tough match and George (Gvelesiani) showed some very good leadership today.” With the win, Tech improves to 3-3 on the season and 28-1 all-time against Georgia State.
For the second time this season, the Jackets were without their top singles player, David North who is ranked No. 36 in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). North, suffering from a sore back, also sat out of the 7-0 loss to No. 1 Georgia on Feb. 13. He is listed as day-to-day.
The Jackets will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 24 when they travel to Austin, Texas to take on the Texas Longhorns at Penick-Allison Tennis Center. Tech is 1-2 all time against the Longhorns but won the last meeting on Feb. 16, 2003. Georgia Tech’s next home match, on Feb. 4 with Florida State, will be their first Atlantic Coast Conference match of the season.
Tennis Match ResultsGeorgia State vs Georgia Tech2/21/2007 at Georgia Tech
#37 Georgia Tech 4, Georgia State 3 Singles competition: 1. Martin Stiegwardt (GAST) def. Jose Muguruza (GT) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 2. Nejc Podkrajsek (GAST) def. Eric Molnar (GT) 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-0 3. Jordan DeLass (GT) def. Mattias Skold (GAST) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 4. Andres Arango (GAST) def. Zach Rath (GT) 6-2, 6-3 5. George Gvelesiani (GT) def. Anze Cevka (GAST) 6-1, 6-1 6. Luke Rassow-Kantor (GT) def. Augusto Alvarado (GAST) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition: 1. Eric Molnar/Luke Rassow-Kantor (GT) def. Martin Stiegwardt/Anze Cevka (GAST) 8-4 2. Jose Muguruza/Scott Blackmon (GT) def. Nejc Podkrajsek/Mattias Skold (GAST) 8-5 3. Jordan DeLass/George Gvelesiani (GT) def. Andres Arango/Augusto Alvarado (GAST) 8-3
Match Notes: Georgia State 7-3 Georgia Tech 3-3; National ranking #37 Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,3,2,4,5,6)
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