March 13, 2012
ATLANTA – All-American Kevin King kept his Atlantic Coast Conference record perfect with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles, and Georgia Tech earned its first conference win Tuesday with a 7-0 shutout of Miami at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
The Yellow Jackets improved to 6-7 overall, 1-2 in the ACC, bouncing back from a 4-3 loss to Clemson on March 4, while Miami dropped its third straight match and fell to 6-5 overall, 0-3 in the ACC.
Tech swept all three doubles matches for the second straight time to get on top early, and unlike the contest against Clemson nine days ago, the Yellow Jackets stayed there. The Yellow Jackets earned first set wins at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 to keep the pressure on Miami.
“As I told my assistant coach, Conor Pollock, this was a must-win for us today,” said head coach Kenny Thorne. “We got put in some pressure situations today, and we relaxed a little better. It matters.”
King, ranked 13th in the nation, finished off the Hurricanes’ Gabriel Flores easily, 6-2, 6-1, to earn the Yellow Jackets’ second point and improve spring record to 11-2 and his ACC record to 3-0. Juan Spir soon thereafter polished off Omar Aly, 6-4, 6-2, for Tech’s third point.
Freshman Sebastian Lopez got the fourth and clinching point with a 6-2, 6-2 decision at No. 6 over Marco Stancati. Minutes later, Dusan Miljevic, playing up one position at No. 3, defeated Wilfredo Gonzalez, 6-4, 6-1, to make it 5-0.
“I’m proud of Dusan today for stepping up,” said Thorne of his senior who had lost the deciding match to Clemson. “He’s had some tough matches, been in every match. He took the position and ran with it. He can take a lot of confidence from that. Juan Melian had to deal with coming from outside to inside to finish his match, got down 6-4 in the tiebreak, stayed calm and finished off the match.”
The Jackets completed the sweep when Juan Melian and Eduardo Segura won a third-set tiebreakers at No. 4 and 5.
In doubles, Tech’s No. 2-ranked team of King and Spir were pushed to the limit. The All-American duo outlasted the Hurricanes’ Aly and Gonzalez, 9-7, finishing first. Freshmen Lopez and Vikram Hundal clinched the point by defeating Flores and Diego Soto, 8-3, at No. 2, and the Jackets’ No. 3 tandem of Segura and Miljevic finished it off, 8-5.
“It was good to see them win all three doubles again today,” said Thorne. “We played solid all the way throughout. All the way round, it was a must-win for our team, but also a much needed win for each of these guys as we go forward.”
Tech is off for another 12 days before hosting Boston College and Maryland the weekend of March 23 and 25.
Tennis Match Results
Georgia Tech 7, Miami 0
Mar 13, 2012 at Atlanta, Ga.
Singles competition
1. #13 Kevin King (GT) def. Gabriel Flores (UM) 6-2, 6-1
2. #101 Juan Spir (GT) def. Omar Aly (UM) 6-4, 6-2
3. Dusan Miljevic (GT) def. Wilfredo Gonzalez (UM) 6-4, 6-1
4. Juan Melian (GT) def. Henrique Tsukamoto (UM) 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
5. Eduardo Segura (GT) def. Victor Mauz (UM) 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-7)
6. Sebastian Lopez (GT) def. Marco Stancati (UM) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #2 Kevin King/Juan Spir (GT) def. Omar Aly/Wilfredo Gonzalez (UM) 9-7
2. Sebastian Lopez/Vikram Hundal (GT) def. Gabriel Flores/Diego Soto (UM) 8-3
3. Eduardo Segura/Dusan Miljevic (GT) def. Henrique Tsukamoto/Mark Schanerman (UM) 8-5
Match Notes:
Miami 6-5, 0-3 ACC; Georgia Tech 6-7, 1-2 ACC
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,2,6,3,5,4)
No. 4 singles match – 3rd set tiebreak moved indoors due to weather
