March 4, 2007
ATLANTA – Freshman Luke Rassow-Kantor lifts No. 52 Georgia Tech past tenth-ranked Florida State in the season’s first Atlantic Coast Conference match Sunday with his third-set tie break victory.
The Jackets jumped out to a 1-0 lead after sweeping the `Noles in doubles then Florida State tied the score when Jean-Yves Aubone, ranked No. 77 in the nation, defeated Jordan DeLass, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, in the second singles spot.
Tech regained their lead with Jose Muguruza’s 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Ytai Abougzir in the first singles spot. Senior Eric Molnar followed with a rousing three-set victory over Sam Chang in the third singles spot to give Tech a 3-1 advantage.
Scott Blackmon, Luke Rassow-Kantor and Austin Roebuck, playing in the fourth, fifth and sixth singles spots, all won the first set of their matches but dropped the second set. With Tech one point shy of the win, Rassow-Kantor forced a third-set tiebreak with Florida State’s Jonathasa Sucupira. The six-foot-three freshman stepped up for the Jackets winning the tiebreak 7-6 (7-5) and clinching the victory for Georgia Tech.
This is the second match-clinching victory for Rassow-Kantor this season.
“It feels amazing to clinch this win for my team. I like having that kind of pressure on me,” said Rassow-Kantor. “When the team needs me, I feel like that’s when I bring my game and really step it up.”
With the win, the Jackets move to 4-5 overall and 1-0 in the ACC.
The Jackets return to action Wednesday, March 7 when they travel to Clemson, S.C. to take on the Tigers at 2:30 p.m. at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center on Clemson’s campus. Tech’s next home match is scheduled for Friday, March 9 when they face Furman at 2:30 p.m. at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
Tennis Match ResultsFlorida State vs Georgia Tech3/4/2007 at Georgia Tech
#52 Georgia Tech 4, #10 Florida State 3 Singles competition: 1. Jose Muguruza (GT) def. Ytai Abougzir (FSU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 2. Jean-Yves Aubone (FSU) def. Jordan DeLass (GT) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 3. Eric Molnar (GT) def. Maciek Sykut (FSU) 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 4. Jonathasa Sucupira (FSU) def. Scott Blackmon (GT) 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 5. Luke Rassow-Kantor (GT) def. Chris Cloer (FSU) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) 6. Bradley Mixson (FSU) def. Austin Roebuck (GT) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
Doubles competition: 1. Eric Molnar/Luke Rassow-Kantor (GT) def. Ytai Abougzir/Jonathasa Sucupira (FSU) 8-5 2. Scott Blackmon/Jose Muguruza (GT) def. Jean-Yves Aubone/Bradley Mixson (FSU) 8-5 3. Jordan DeLass/George Gvelesiani (GT) def. Maciek Sykut/Andrew Bailey (FSU) 8-6
Match Notes: Florida State 7-4, 1-2 ACC; National ranking #10 Georgia Tech 4-5, 1-0 ACC; National ranking #52 Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,1,3,5,6,4)
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