April 23, 2011
CARY, N.C. – The 16th ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (19-5) dropped a hard fought 4-0 decision to the top-seeded and top-ranked Virginia Cavaliers (28-0) on Saturday afternoon at the Cary Tennis Park in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
“I think credit goes to Virginia today, they outplayed us,” head coach Kenny Thorne said. “When you play the number one team in the country, you better play well. I think they played well, I think we fought well, but that’s not good enough. Our guys didn’t quite get over the hump in doubles. When you get up a break on teams, you have to maintain it. When you have break chances you have to get them. Virginia played very well. I wasn’t disappointed with what we put out there, with the guys effort, their attitudes. I think we’ve improved a lot, all the way to the end of the season. It always hurts losing. We took care of a good Miami team yesterday and I think we have to hold our heads high and wait to see what happens with the NCAA Tournament draw.”
Going into the match with the top-ranked Cavaliers, the 16th-ranked Yellow Jackets knew they would be in for a challenge, beginning with the doubles matches.
Each of the three doubles matches would be close. Virginia’s number two ranked team of Drew Courtney and Michael Shabaz grabbed the first edge for the Cavaliers with an 8-5 win on court one over Tech’s 14th-ranked pair of Juan Spir and Kevin King. UVA earned the doubles point with an 8-6 win by Jarmere Jenkins and Julen Uriquen on court two over Tech’s Eliot Potvin and Ryan Smith.
Each side on the court three doubles match held serve and ended with Tech’s Guillermo Gomez and Dean O’Brien tied 6-6 with Virginia’s Sanam Singh and Alex Domijan.
Uriquen extended Virginia’s lead to 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-2 win over the Yellow Jackets’ Miguel Muguruza on court six. The Cavaliers deep lineup extended its lead to 3-0 and one point within the win by a 6-2, 6-2 victory by the 53rd ranked Jenkins over Tech’s Magin Ortiga on court four.
The Cavaliers would punch their ticket to the championship match with a 6-4, 6-3 win from Singh, ranked 36th, over the Jackets’ Potvin on court three.
“I think our guys might’ve pressed a little today,” Thorne said. “I think the last time we played them, we stayed within ourselves and we did some good things overall in the match at their place. I think we came out and wanted to take it to them a little, and might’ve pressed a little too much. As we go on, I think we need to settle into who we are, play aggressive, but play at a level we can sustain for a long period of time. We need to be able to match them when we need to, take momentum away when we need to, but play at a level that we can sustain and not try to get out of our comfort zone.”
The Yellow Jackets will now await the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field on May 3 to find out when and where they will play again.
Fans can follow Tech tennis on Twitter, @GT_MTEN, for instant updates and live scoring will be available through RamblinWreck.com.
Match Results
Georgia Tech vs. Virginia
April 23, 2011 in Cary, N.C.
#1 Virginia 4, #16 Georgia Tech 0
Singles competition:
1. #5 Michael Shabaz (UVA) vs. #14 Guillermo Gomez (GT), 6-4, 2-0
2. #2 Alex Domijan (UVA) vs. Kevin King (GT), 6-4, 3-3
3. #36 Sanam Singh (UVA) def. Eliot Potvin (GT), 6-4, 6-3
4. #53 Jarmere Jenkins (UVA) def. Magin Ortiga (GT), 6-2, 6-2
5. #39 Drew Courtney (UVA) vs. Dean O’Brien (GT), 7-6, 3-2
6. Julen Uriauen (UVA) def. Miguel Muguruza (GT), 6-0, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. #2 Drew Courtney/Michael Shabaz (UVA) def. #14 Juan Spir/Kevin King (GT), 8-5
2. Jarmere Jenkins/Julen Uriquen (UVA) def. Eliot Potvin/Ryan Smith (GT), 8-6
3. Guillermo Gomez/Dean O’Brien (GT) vs. Sanam Singh/Alex Domijan (UVA), 6-6
Match Notes:
Georgia Tech 19-5; National ranking #16
Virginia 28-0; National ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,4,3)
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