Sept. 17, 2009
ATLANTA – With 10 players entered in singles competition and five doubles teams set to compete, Georgia Tech’s men’s tennis team opens its fall schedule Friday in the 42nd annual Southern Intercollegiate Championships in Athens, Ga.
The 2009 SIC, the nation’s oldest fall college tennis tournament features participants from 28 schools including Alabama, Coastal Carolina, The Citadel, Davidson, Duke, Furman, Gardner Webb, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Memphis, Mercer, Middle Tennessee State, Samford, South Alabama, South Florida, Stetson, Tennessee, Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, USC Upstate, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Winthrop and Wofford. Competition continues throughout the weekend at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, with finals in all divisions of singles and doubles set for Monday.
“It’s good because the guys have been practicing hard and playing a decent amount all summer,” said head coach Kenny Thorne, who begins his 12th season at his alma mater with everybody back from last year’s squad and three newcomers on the roster.
“To get into the first tournament, it always helps to see where we are, and it’s the first chance at the college scene for the freshmen and a chance for the returners to go ahead and establish themselves. It’s a good opportunity to get individual rankings and see where doubles teams are.”
The field is divided into three singles divisions and two doubles divisions, with a champion from each division. Junior Guillermo Gomez, a 2009 All-American with a 29-10 record and the nation’s 5th-ranked player, is seeded No. 3 in Division I, which also includes junior Eliot Potvin (Hampden, Maine), transfer Dean O’Brien (Benmore, South Africa) and sophomore Kevin King (Peachtree City, Ga.). All four players have byes into the round of 64 and begin play Friday afternoon.
Gomez, at No. 5, O’Brien (No. 82) and King (No. 111) enter the fall among the nation’s top-ranked players in singles in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
Potvin starts things off with a 12 noon match against John Peers of Middle Tennessee State, while Gomez faces Gokalp Ozdemir of Kennesaw State at 12:30 p.m., O’Brien meets Charlie Ramsey of Memphis at 1:30 p.m., and King takes on Evandro Rosindo of Mercer at 1:30 p.m.
Sophomore Dusan Miljevic (Novi Sad, Serbia) is seeded 8th in Division II, which also includes senior Austin Roebuck (Athens, Ga.), juniors Doug Kenny (Roswell, Ga.), Ryan Smith (Marietta, Ga.) and Miguel Muguruza (Wesley Chapel, Fla.), and freshman Magin Ortiga (Cartagina, Columbia). All but Roebuck, who meets Joe Nicolazzi of the College of Charleston at 9:30 a.m. have byes into the round of 64, which begins late Friday afternoon.
Tech’s doubles teams in Division I include Gomez and Ortiga, seeded seventh, and Smith and O’Brien. Roebuck and Kenny, Miljevic and King, and Muguruza and Potvin will compete in Division II.
“Literally we have a lot of options in doubles, and that is a good problem to have, but at the same time we don’t play in enough tournaments in the fall to necessarily get teams together and settle in,” said Thorne. “We’ve been doing a lot more match play in practice trying to see where our teams are going to settle in. This will definitely be an indicator, but we’ve got quite a few guys this year, especially with a lot of juniors on our team, who know how to play doubles. They’ve played and had some experience in the past for us. There are a lot of guys that can jump in the doubles lineup. It will be very interesting to see these teams go this weekend.”
Only freshman Juan Spir (Medellin, Columbia), who will resume full activity next week following spring shoulder surgery, will not play this weekend.
Following this weekend’s competition, Tech will host its annual Fall Invitational the weekend of Oct. 3-5 at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
42nd Annual Southern Intercollegiate ChampionshipsSept. 18-21, Athens, Ga., Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Fri., Sept. 18
8 a.m. Div. I, II Round of 128 Singles (Dan Magill Tennis Complex) Div. III Round of 64 Singles (Intramural Courts) Div. I, II Round of 64 Singles (DMTC) Div. III Round of 32 Singles (IC)
6:00 p.m. Div. I, II Round of 64 Doubles Div. I Round of 32 Doubles (DMTC)
Sat., Sept. 19
8 a.m. Div. II Round of 32 Doubles (DMTC) Div. I, II First Round Consolation (IC) Div. I, II Round of 16 Doubles (DMTC) Div. III Round of 32 Consolation (IC) Div. I, II Round of 32 Singles (DMTC) Div. I, II, III Round of 16 Singles (DMTC) Div. III Singles Quarterfinals (DMTC)
4 p.m. Div. I, II Round of 16 Doubles (DMTC)
Sun., Sept. 20
8 a.m. (all at Dan Magill Tennis Complex)) Div. I, II, III Singles Second (and Final) Consolation Round Div. I, II Singles Quarterfinals Div. III Singles Semifinals Div. I, II Singles Semifinals Div. III Singles Finals Div. I, II Doubles Quarterfinals
Mon., Sept. 21
(all at Dan Magill Tennis Complex) Div. I, II Singles Finals Div. I, II Doubles Semifinals Div. I, II Doubles Finals
