Jan. 31, 2009
WACO, Texas – – The Georgia Tech men’s tennis team fell to No. 7 Baylor 6-1 at the ITA National Team Indoor Qualifier Saturday at the Baylor Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.
The Yellow Jackets (3-2) come one win short of making the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
“Baylor was the better team today,” head coach Kenny Thorne said. “They served well and they returned well, and we didn’t match.”
In front of a home crowd, Baylor came out strong from the beginning as the Bears swept doubles play with 8-2, 8-4 and 8-3 victories for the 1-0 lead. Tech freshman Kevin King and sophomore Doug Kenny’s first doubles loss of the season came in the 8-4 loss to Baylor’s Dominik Mueller and Maros Horny.
It was a tough day for King, who also received his first singles loss of the season in a 6-0, 6-0 result at the hands of the 13th-ranked player in the nation, Jordan Rux. The defeat ended King’s four-match winning streak to start the season.
Down 0-2 and needing some singles wins to stay alive, the Jackets were unable to get anything going as freshman Dusan Miljevic fell 6-1, 6-1 to Baylor’s Dominik Mueller and sophomore Eliot Potvin dropped a 6-2, 6-3 decision to Julian Bley. Bley would clinch the match for the Big 12 powerhouse.
Sophomore Miguel Muguruza notched Tech’s lone singles win on the day in a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over 40th-ranked Attila Bucko. With the win, Muguruza improves his season record to 2-1.
Not to be overshadowed was the tough play of sophomore Guillermo Gomez and junior Austin Roebuck. After taking the first set 6-4, Gomez was unable to avenge a loss in the fall to No. 21 Denes Lukacs as he fell 6-3 in the second and 10-8 in a tiebreaker in the third. Roebuck fell 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 to Maros Horny, but strung together seven straight game-winners in the comeback attempt.
“It is good for us to play tough competition this early on in the season,” Thorne added. “There were definitely some positives in the match today and we will get much better from the experience.”
The Jackets return to action Thursday, Feb. 19, as they host Georgia Tech at 2 p.m. at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
Results#10 Baylor 6, #58 Georgia Tech 1
Singles 1. #21 Denes Lukacs (BU) def. #14 Guillermo Gomez (GT) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8) 2. #13 Jordan Rux (BU) def. Kevin King (GT) 6-0, 6-0 3. Julian Bley (BU) def. Eliot Potvin (GT) 6-2, 6-3 4. #71 Dominik Mueller (BU) def. Dusan Miljevic (GT) 6-1, 6-1 5. Miguel Muguruza (GT) def. #40 Attila Bucko (BU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 6. Maros Horny (BU) def. Austin Roebuck (GT) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
Doubles 1. Denes Lukacs/Jordan Rux (BU) def. Miguel Muguruza/Ryan Smith (GT) 8-3 2. Attila Bucko/Julian Bley (BU) def. Guillermo Gomez/Eliot Potvin (GT) 8-2 3. Dominik Mueller/Maros Horny (BU) def. Kevin King/Doug Kenny (GT) 8-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 3, 1); Singles (2,4,3,6,1,5)
