Feb. 16, 2003
ATLANTA – A win by West Nott at No. 5 singles allowed the Georgia Tech men’s tennis team to rally after dropping the doubles point to clinch a 4-2 upset victory over ninth-ranked Texas on Sunday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
“The first three guys in singles play really set the tone for the rest of the match with how they came out and started,” said Tech head coach Kenny Thorne. “I think the way they played really got contagious for the rest of the team and in college tennis, you need that momentum. They really played to win today against a great team in Texas and I was glad to see them rebound after Friday’s loss and come back to beat a top-10 team with a great effort.”
Nott, who is now 4-1 in dual match singles play for the Yellow Jackets (3-2), won the first set against the Longhorns’ (3-2) Pete Stroer by a 6-3 score. He then needed a tiebreaker in the second set to clinch both his match and the match for Tech with a 7-4 win in the breaker to win the set 7-6. Jacket senior Roger Anderson also picked up a key win at No. 1 singles, upsetting 19th-ranked Jean Simon in straight sets by matching scores of 6-4, 6-4.
“After seeing Roger (Anderson), Scott (Schnugg) and Jason (Pieters) come out strong, I think West came out excited as well,” said Thorne. “This match was very similar to our match at Alabama and I was disappointed with our doubles play, but I think we’re a good doubles team and we just need to get back to the basics in that area.”
Tech’s other two singles victories came at No. 2 and No. 3, as both Scott Schnugg and Jason Pieters were victorious. Schnugg garnered a straight-set win over Jose Zarhi at No. 2, winning the first set by a 7-6 score and an 8-6 count in the tiebreaker. He then won the second set by a 6-4 count. Pieters downed Antonio Ruiz at No. 3 in three sets, winning the first set by a 6-1 score before dropping the second set, 7-6. He then rallied to win the third by a 6-4 count.
The Longhorns swept the doubles portion of the match, with two of the matches being extremely close. Tech’s duo of Roger Anderson and Jason Pieters dropped a 9-8 (5) decision to Texas’ 21st-ranked duo of Simon and Zarhi, while the Jackets’ duo Schnugg and Nott fell by a 9-7 score to the 36th-ranked team of Jimmy Haney and Stroer.
The Yellow Jackets will return to action on Feb. 24, when they host Furman in a match that will get under way at 2 p.m. at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
#46 GEORGIA TECH 4, #9 TEXAS 2DOUBLES1. #21 Simon/Zarhi (T) d. Anderson/Pieters (GT), 9-8 (5)2. #36 Haney/Stroer (T) d. Schnugg/Nott (GT), 9-73. Ruiz/Jenkin (T) d. Menano/Rajevac (GT), 8-4
SINGLES 1. #21 Roger Anderson (GT) d. #19 Jean Simon (T), 6-4, 6-4 2. Scott Schnugg (GT) d. #59 Jose Zarhi (T), 7-6 (6), 6-4 3. Jason Pieters (GT) d. Antonio Ruiz (T), 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 4. Jimmy Haney (T) d. Joao Menano (GT), 7-6 (6), 6-2 5. West Nott (GT) d. Pete Stroer (T), 6-3, 7-6 (4) 6. Fabio Campos (GT) vs. Roger Gubser (T), 2-6, 5-5, Susp.
-GT-
