March 14, 2008
ATLANTA – Guillermo Gomez and Eliot Potvin each picked up singles wins but it was not enough as the Georgia Tech men’s tennis team (9-5) fell to No. 15 Arizona State (11-0), 5-2, Friday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
“Arizona State has been playing some good tennis lately and when things got close they came up with some good play,” head coach Kenny Thorne said. “Our guys played with a lot more passion today. They came out much better in singles than our last match.”
The Sun Devils took an early 1-0 lead after sweeping the doubles matches. Wes Miller and John Nanosky defeated Doug Kenny and Potvin, 8-3, in the third position followed by Andres Arango and Harry Skinner’s, 8-4, win over George Gvelesiani and Guillermo Gomez on court two. The Yellow Jackets duo of Scott Blackmon and Ryan Smith fought their way back from a 7-4 deficit but were unable to pull off the win, falling in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-4), to T.J. Bellama and Matt Brooklyn at No. 1 doubles.
Tech evened the score at 1-1 after Gomez made quick work of No. 49 Arango, 6-2, 6-2, at the top spot in the lineup. Arizona State struck right back as Skinner defeated Smith, 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 3 position.
“It was great to see Guillermo get out their and do well in his match,” Thorne said. “He really brought us back and got us back into the match. Ryan also played a really good, tough match but Skinner just played too good at times.”
Arizona State pushed the score to 3-1 when Bellama defeated Miguel Muguruza, 6-1, 6-1, from the No. 5 position. The Jackets were able to cut the score to 3-2 when Potvin defeated Miller, 6-1, 6-4, at the No. 4 spot in the lineup.
The match was decided when Scott Blackmon dropped a three-set thriller to Juan Carlos Rebaza at No. 2 singles. Blackmon lost the first set and was down 5-2 in the second before making an incredible comeback to win the set, 7-6 (7-5). Blackmon would then open a 3-2 lead with a break in third-set before cramps slowed his play. Carlos Rebaza was able to take advantage of Blackmon’s condition and pulled off a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 win.
“Scott showed a lot out there today,” Thorne added. “He showed everyone where he is mentally.”
The Jackets will close out their non-conference schedule with a double-header next Tuesday, March 18 beginning at 10 a.m. against Wofford, followed by a 2 p.m. match against Chattanooga. Both matches will take place at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
– RamblinWreck.com –
