May 23, 2011
ATLANTA – Juan Melian Puigventos, the 2011 Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year at Georgia Southern, has transferred to Georgia Tech and will begin play for the Yellow Jackets this fall, head coach Kenny Thorne announced Monday.
Puigventos, who will have two years of eligibility at Tech, went 22-1 for the Eagles last spring and won his last 16 consecutive matches, setting school records for victories and winning percentage. He played all of his matches at the No. 1 singles position in 2011 and went 10-0 against SoCon competition. He also was 11-11 in doubles.
“Juan had a great year at Georgia Southern,” said Thorne. “He has many of the excellent characteristics we look for in a recruit. He excels academically and truly appreciates the value of the Georgia Tech degree. He has a great work ethic on and off the court and he is a fierce competitor. He brings two years of college experience when he arrives, so he will hit the ground running. I’m proud of the level of integrity of our players and he will be of the same mold. We are looking forward to him helping improve upon this year’s success.
The native of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, compiled a singles record of 39-10 in two years at Georgia Southern. A mechanical engineering major, he posted a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in the recently completed spring semester. He was the first player in Georgia Southern history to be named SoCon Player of the Year in men’s tennis, and the first Eagle since 2001 to make the all-conference team.
Puigventos joins a Yellow Jacket team that went 21-6 this spring and reached the round of 16 at the NCAA Championships. Tech returns three members of its singles lineup and its top doubles team.
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