April 21, 2011
CARY, N.C. – Heading into this weekend’s ACC Tournament, Georgia Tech head coach Kenny Thorne talked about how well his team had competed all year, and how they would need to continue to compete at a high level in order to be successful.
The Yellow Jackets (18-4) did exactly that on the first day of the ACC Men’s Tennis Tournament in Cary, N.C., as Tech blanked Boston College (7-18), 4-0, to advance to round two against No. 25 Miami at 9 a.m. on Friday.
“In the first round, to be pushed, I know it was 4-0, but they pushed us and I think that was good for us,” Thorne said. “To get into a championship, you have to get in mentally. If we had got our four points quick, we wouldn’t have quite got there as much mentally as much as we had to. I think that was a very good match for us.”
In doubles action, Guillermo Gomez and Dean O’Brien came out firing on all cylinders against BC’s Michael McGinnis and Alex Skinner, racing out to a 7-0 lead before a nearly two hour rain delay. When play resumed, the Yellow Jackets’ number two pair finished off an 8-1 win to give Tech an early advantage.
“Our number two team has been playing well,” Thorne said. “They’ve gotten on top of teams early and they’ll have a good challenge against Miami because they lost to this team last time. I think they’ll be up for playing them again. That was a good match to set the tone.”
The Jackets No. 1 and 3 teams were tied in much tighter battles prior to Mother Nature interrupting Tech’s opening match. At the delay, the number one pair of Eliot Potvin and Ryan Smith trailed 4-2 and the court three team of Kevin King and Miguel Muguruza were up 4-3.
The break was kind to the Jackets on court three as King and Muguruza broke the Eagles’ duo of Adam Davison and Erik Kreutzer to go up 5-3. While court one play continued to be back-and-forth, the Jackets took control of the court three match and claimed an 8-5 win to give Tech a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
“I was really proud of the guys how they came out after the rain delay,” Thorne said. “I think there is a chance of rain this entire weekend. You might be hopping on the bus, coming back out to play, and hopping back on the bus. How you react to that and how you start matches after that is important. We came back right away in each of the matches and really jumped on them. I think that’s a testament to the guys keeping their minds in the match pretty well during the delay.”
King continued his hot streak and quickly put Tech up 2-0 in the team score with a dominating 6-3, 6-2 win on court two. O’Brien grinded out a 6-4 first set win and put the Yellow Jackets within one point of the team victory with a 6-2 second set win.
With the remaining four courts all in their third set and Tech nearing victories on courts one, four and six, Gomez punched the Yellow Jackets ticket to round number two by claiming a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over BC’s Akash Muppidi.
“It was good to see Guillermo clinch it today,” Thorne added. “He had to fight just to stay in there, but he got over the hump and finished it off. It was a good match for him today.”
The Yellow Jackets will face the Hurricanes at 9 a.m. on Friday in the second round of the ACC Tournament. Miami earned a tough 4-3 win over Tech on March 13.
“I think tomorrow is a match our guys have been looking forward to,” Thorne said. “Miami is a tough team and they’ve done very well all season, they deserve to be seeded ahead of us. We’re going to have to beat them to prove we’re better. It was such a close match down there. The doubles point was so important and they were able to get us in the doubles point. I expect it to be a great match again and I absolutely know our guys are excited about playing them.”
Fans can follow Tech tennis on Twitter, @GT_MTEN, for instant updates and live scoring will be available through RamblinWreck.com.
Match Results
Boston College vs. Georgia Tech
April 21, 2011 in Cary, N.C.
#16 Georgia Tech 4, Boston College 0
Singles competition:
1. #14 Guillermo Gomez (GT) def. Akash Muppidi (BC), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
2. Kevin King (GT) def. Alex Skinner (BC), 6-3, 6-2
3. Eliot Potvin (GT) vs. Erik Kreutzer (BC), 6-2, 5-7, 3-5
4. Magin Ortiga (GT) vs. Jonathan Raude (BC), 6-3, 3-6, 5-2
5. Dean O’Brien (GT) def. Jonathan Schroeder (BC), 6-4, 6-2
6. Dusan Miljevic (GT) vs. Billy Grokenberger (BC), 6-7, 6-1, 4-2
Doubles competition:
1. Eliot Potvin/Ryan Smith (GT) vs. Akash Muppidi/Billy Grokenberger (BC), 5-5
2. Guillermo Gomez/Dean O’Brien (GT) def. Michael McGinnis/Alex Skinner (BC), 8-1
3. Kevin King/Miguel Muguruza (GT) def. Adam Davison/Erik Kreutzer (BC), 8-5
Match Notes:
Georgia Tech 18-4, 8-3 ACC; National ranking #16
Boston College 7-18, 0-11 ACC
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (2,5,1)
— RamblinWreck.com —
