Feb. 26, 2006
Marko Rajevac clinced the match at No. 1 singles and won at No. 1 doubles to lead the No. 28 Georgia Tech men’s tennis team to a 4-3 win over No. 36 Auburn Sunday. With the win, the Yellow Jackets improve to 5-0 while the Tigers drop to 6-2.
“We finally got a good 4-3 win on Auburn after dropping our last two matches to them by the same score,” said head coach Kenny Thorne. “It was nice to play them at home, although the conditions with the wind and the cold were tough for both teams. I was impressed with how we came out of it and mentally hung in there to scrap out a win. We got some early momentum during the doubles and then winning the first sets in four matches, but give credit to Auburn, they came right out and fought back to get back into the match and tie the match at 3-3. It was a good win for Marko, especially after dropping the firs set, and it was nice to see him finish it out for us.”
The Jackets got on the board first winning all three doubles matches. The team of Scott Blackmon and Zachary Rath started things off by defeating Pawel Dilaj and Milan Krnjetin at No. 2 doubles, 8-4. Tech then claimed the point when the duo of Jordan Delass and George Gvelesiani recorded a 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles over Nick Lane and Terence Nugent. The Jackets won the final doubles match as the 42nd ranked team of Rajevac and David North won at No. 1 doubles over Lukas Marsoun and Robbert Lathouwers, 8-4.
Auburn tied the match at 1-1 as No. 83 Lathouwers came from behind to defeat Rath at No. 2, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. The Jackets then took a 2-1 lead as Blackmon notched a straight set win over Nugent at No. 6 singles, 6-2, 6-4. Tech increased its lead to 3-1 when Gvelesiani won at No. 5 singles, 6-1, 7-6 (3). The Tigers narrowed the gap to 3-2 as Dilaj won at No. 4 singles over Delass, 7-6 (2), 6-4. Auburn then tied the match at 3-3 when Krnjetin fought back to defeat North at No. 3 singles, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. In the deciding match of the day, Rajevac came back after dropping the first set to defeat Lane at No. 1 singles, 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4.
The Yellow Jackets will return to action Friday when they take on Arizona State at 3 p.m. at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
Tennis Match ResultsAuburn vs Georgia TechFeb 26, 2006 at Atlanta, GA
#28 Georgia Tech 4, #36 Auburn 3
Singles competition 1. Marko Rajevac (GT) def. Nick Lane (AU) 6-7 (7-1) , 6-3, 6-4 2. #83 Robbert Lathouwers (AU) def. Zachary Rath (GT) 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 3. Milan Krnjetin (AU) def. David North (GT) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 4. Pawel Dilaj (AU) def. Jordan Delass (GT) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 5. George Gvelesiani (GT) def. Lukas Marsoun (AU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) 6. Scott Blackmon (GT) def. Terence Nugent (AU) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles competition 1. #42 Marko Rajevac/David North (GT) def. Lukas Marsoun/Robbert Lathouwers (AU) 8-4 2. Scott Blackmon/Zachary Rath (GT) def. Pawel Dilaj/Milan Krnjetin (AU) 8-4 3. Jordan Delass/George Gvelesiani (GT) def. Nick Lane/Terence Nugent (AU) 8-5
Match Notes: Auburn 6-2; National ranking #36 Georgia Tech 5-0; National ranking #28 Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (2,6,5,4,3,1)
