Feb. 24, 2012
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech, which has run through a gauntlet of top-20 teams during the non-conference portion of its schedule, looks to open Atlantic Coast Conference play on a strong note Saturday in a 12 noon match on the road against 31st-ranked Florida State.
The 32nd-ranked Yellow Jackets have gone 5-5 in the early part of their schedule, running up against top-20 teams in Georgia, Illinois, Auburn and North Carolina in the process. The Seminoles (9-2, 1-0 ACC) won their first seven matches of the season before dropping road matches to No. 16 Baylor and No. 6 Florida, and defeated Boston College in their first ACC match on Feb. 15. FSU has not played since then.
“FSU is a good team that has played well so far this year,” said Tech coach Kenny Thorne. “Winning on the road in the ACC is always tough and this will be no exception.”
Tech defeated Wisconsin, 5-2, in its last match Sunday. All-Americans Kevin King, ranked seventh in the nation, and Juan Spir, ranked 88th, both won their matches in straight sets at the top of the Yellow Jackets’ order. King, a senior from Peachtree City, Ga., is 8-2 in the dual season and 22-5 overall this year in singles, while Spir, a junior from Medellin, Colombia, has forged a 7-3 spring record and is 10-7 overall.
Juan Melian, a junior from Las Palmas, Spain, is 6-3 at the No. 3 spot in the lineup, while Dusan Miljevic, a senior from Novi Sad, Serbia, is 3-5 at No. 4. Freshmen Eduardo Segura (Madrid, Spain) and Sebastian Lopez (Medellin, Colombia) have combined for an 8-5 mark at the bottom of the lineup.
Doubles continues to concern Thorne, who watched Wisconsin sweep the Jackets last Sunday. King and Spir remain the No. 2 team in the nation, but they dropped their first match of the spring against the Badgers. Melian and freshman Vikram Hundal are 4-5 at the No. 2 spot, while Miljevic and Segura are 3-4 at No. 3.
“We will need to play much better in doubles than we did against Wisconsin,” said Thorne. “We also need a complete match from all six singles players in order to win in the ACC. The guys rebounded last match and showed they have the toughness needed. We are looking for consistency for the rest of the season.”
