Feb. 16, 2004
ATLANTA-The Yellow Jackets improved to 5-0 on the season as senior West Nott secured the Tech victory with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory on Monday, February 16, 2004 at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
Nott was down break point in the third set before he broke his serve and pulled out the 6-4 victory. “I got down a break in the third set and needed to break back immediately,” Nott said. “I just let loose. I went for all my shots and they all went in.”
Georgia Tech started off the day capturing the doubles point. Sophomore Trevor McLeod and senior Joao Menano won a hard fought battle against Middle Tennessee State’s Trevor Short and Greg Pollack. The deciding doubles match-up was Jose Louis Muguruza and Jason Pieters of Georgia Tech knocking off Andreas Siljestrom and Rishan Kuruppo at the Number 2 doubles spot. They won easily, defeating the duo 8-4. In the final doubles match of the afternoon, Scott Schnugg and Marko Rajevac were down 4-1 early to the No. 46th ranked tandem of Brandon Allen and Kai Schledom, but battled back to pull even in the match. In the tie-breaker, Schnugg and Rajevac made short work of MTSU, winning 7-2 to take the match 9-8.
The Yellow Jackets jumped ahead 3-0 after both No. 1 and No. 3 singles were both victorious. Pieters won easily in the number three spot over Schledom, 6-0, 6-1. In No. 1 action, Schnugg remained perfect on the day defeating MTSU’s Short in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4.
The Blue Raiders fought back and won the next two matches. Siljestrom defeated Muguruza in three sets, while Rajevac fell in two sets to MTSU’s Kuruppo.
“Once they got that win at No. 2, the momentum shifted,” head coach Kenny Thorne explained. “Everything was a dogfight from there.”
The deciding match was the No. 4 singles match up. Georgia Tech’s West Nott was able to outlast Middle Tenn.’s Kirk Jackson. The match was back and forth with both teams’ crowds cheering wildly. The match went the full three sets with Nott edging out the victory 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
The final match of the day saw Georgia Tech’s Menano defeat Middle Tennessee State’s Sitaram. Sitaram won the first set 6-4 and Menano battled to take the second set 7-5. With the match already decided, Menano and Sitaram played a tie break that Menano took, 11-9.
Georgia Tech 5, Middle Tennessee State 2DoublesNo. 1: Schnugg/Rajevac (GT) def. Allan/Schledom (MTSU), 9-8 (7-2)No. 2: Muguruza/Pieters (GT) def. Siljestrom/Kuruppu (MTSU), 8-4*No. 3: McLeod/Menano (GT) def. Short/Pollack (MTSU), 8-6
Singles No. 1: Schnugg (GT) def. Short (MTSU), 6-1, 6-4 No. 2: Siljestrom (MTSU) def. Muguruza (GT), 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 No. 3: Pieters (GT) def. Schledom (MTSU), 6-0, 6-1 No. 4: Nott (GT) def. Jackson (MTSU), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4** No. 5: Kuruppo (MTSU) def. Rajevac (GT), 7-5, 6-3 No. 6: Menano (GT) def. Sitaram (MTSU), 4-6, 7-5, (11-9)
* – Clinched doubles point ** – Clinched match
