March 17, 2009
ATLANTA – Guillermo Gomez clinched the match with a straight-set victory, and Dusan Miljevic won without losing a game as Georgia Tech’s tennis team defeated visiting Tennessee Tech, 5-2, Tuesday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
The Yellow Jackets evened their record at 6-6 in their final non-conference match of the regular season, while the Golden Eagles fell to 2-5. Tech is on the road this weekend at Virginia Tech and Virginia.
“We were focused on getting the doubles point,” said Tech coach Kenny Thorne. “Tennessee Tech fought hard and took us to the limit there. We got the match done fairly quickly, but they fought hard at several spots. I’m also happy that our two freshmen, Kevin (King) and Dusan (Miljevic) were able to come back and get strong wins for us.”
Thorne’s team won the doubles point despite Guillermo Gomez and Ryan Smith dropping their match at the No. 1 position. Doug Kenny and Kevin King defeated Mario Gutierrez and Jistin Kierstein, 8-2, and Austin Roebuck and Miguel Muguruza dispatched Alex Chen and Oscar Pachon, 8-5.
Freshman Dusan Miljevic drew first blood in singles by blanking Gutierrez, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 6 singles. King took a straight-set victory, 6-1, 6-0, from Kierstein at No. 4 before Gomez clinched the match at No. 1 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Dean O’Brien.
Gomez, a sophomore from Alicante, Spain and the nation’s 12th-ranked player, improved to 22-6 in singles matches this year, 47-17 for his career.
Sophomore Miguel Muguruza extended Tech’s lead to 5-0 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Josh Girling at No. 5 before the Golden Eagles won points with three-set victories at the No. 2 and 5 positions. Eliot Potvin fell to Alex Chen, 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7), while Ryan Smith lost 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, to Oscar Pachon at No. 5.
Tennis Match ResultsTennessee Tech vs Georgia TechMarch 17, 2009 at Atlanta, Ga.
#62 Georgia Tech 5, Tennessee Tech 2
Singles competition 1. #12 Guillermo Gomez (GT) def. O’BRIEN, Dean (TTU) 6-3, 6-4 2. CHEN, Alex (TTU) def. Eliot Potvin (GT) 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7) 3. Miguel Muguruza (GT) def. GIRLING, Josh (TTU) 6-4, 6-2 4. Kevin King (GT) def. KIRSTEIN, Justin (TTU) 6-1, 6-0 5. PACHON, Oscar (TTU) def. Ryan Smith (GT) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 6. Dusan Miljevic (GT) def. GUTIERREZ, Mario (TTU) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition 1. O’BRIEN, Dean/GIRLING, Josh (TTU) def. #61 Guillermo Gomez/Ryan Smith (GT) 8-5 2. Doug Kenny/Kevin King (GT) def. GUTIERREZ, Mario/KIRSTEIN, Justin (TTU) 8-2 3. Austin Roebuck/Miguel Muguruza (GT) def. CHEN, Alex/PACHON, Oscar (TTU) 8-5
Match Notes: Tennessee Tech 2-5 Georgia Tech 6-6; National ranking #62 Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,4,1,3,2,5) 64 degrees, sunny, winde ENE at 4 mph #2 singles played tiebreaker instead of full third set since match was clinched T-3:05
