April 6, 2012
ATLANTA – Juan Spir, Vikram Hundal and Juan Melian led an early Georgia Tech charge with straight-set wins in singles, and the Yellow Jackets clinched the match before the Hokies could scratch in a 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference win Friday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
Georgia Tech evened its record at 9-9, 4-4 in the ACC, with the win and looks ahead to its final home match of the season Saturday against 2nd-ranked Virginia. Virginia Tech fell to 8-10 overall, 4-4 in the ACC.
All-American Kevin King lost a straight-set match at No. 1 to Luka Somen, but the Yellow Jackets had clinched the match beforehand. After Tech had captured the doubles point, Spir was the first to finish his singles match, defeating 123rd-ranked Lucas Oliveira, 6-3, 6-2.
“The last few years we had some real battles with Virginia Tech,” said head coach Kenny Thorne. “This was a bit of a surprise that we could jump on them and clinch so quickly. Good to win the doubles point because we’ve had to come a long way there. Juan Spir continued to play very well against a good player today. Vikram got a very good win and was able to close it out after his opponent fought back.”
Hundal, a freshman who earned his first singles start last weekend at 6th-ranked Duke, earned the Jackets’ third point with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Trpimir Kujundzic at No. 5. Melian clinched the match for the home team with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 4.
“In practice I’ve been playing really well, and I’ve played a lot of practice matches even when I wasn’t in the lineup,” said Hundal. “So I’ve gained a lot of confidence recently. I knew Virginia Tech was going to be tough, so I tried to step up for the team. The match against Duke got my mind-set ready for singles. I knew I’d play this weekend, and it really helped me go back to what I had done in practice.”
Freshman Sebastian Lopez outlasted Mauricio Antun, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9) for the Jackets’ fifth point. Patrick Daciek got the Hokies’ second point in the final match with a 7-6, 2-6, 1-0 (10-8) win over Yellow Jacket senior Dusan Miljevic.
King and Spir, ranked 7th in the nation in doubles, improved to 15-2 for the spring and 7-1 in the ACC with an 8-5 win over Somen and Tocci (ranked 49th). Miljevic and Segura edged Koontz and Kujundzic, 8-6, at No. 3 to give the Yellow Jackets the doubles point.
#70 Georgia Tech 5, #51 Virginia Tech 2
Apr 6, 2012 at Atlanta, Ga.
Singles competition
1. #119 Luka Somen (VT) def. #11 Kevin King (GT) 6-2, 6-2
2. Juan Spir (GT) def. #123 Lucas Oliveira (VT) 6-3, 6-2
3. Patrick Daciek (VT) def. Dusan Miljevic (GT) 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 1-0 (10-8)
4. Juan Melian (GT) def. Corrado Tocci (VT) 6-3, 6-4
5. Sebastian Lopez (GT) def. Mauricio Antun (VT) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9)
6. Vikram Hundal (GT) def. Trpimir Kujundzic (VT) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #7 Kevin King/Juan Spir (GT) def. #46 Luka Somen/Corrado Tocci (VT) 8-5
2. Lucas Oliveira/Patrick Daciek (VT) def. Sebastian Lopez/Vikram Hundal (GT) 8-4
3. Dusan Miljevic/Eduardo Segura (GT) def. Hunter Koontz/Trpimir Kujundzic (VT) 8-6
Match Notes:
Virginia Tech 8-10, 4-4 ACC; National ranking #51
Georgia Tech 9-9, 4-4 ACC; National ranking #70
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,6,4,1,5,3)
