Feb. 4, 2012
ATLANTA – The No. 22 Georgia Tech men’s tennis got early singles wins from Kevin King and Juan Spir, but dropped a 5-2 decision to South Carolina Saturday at the Bill Moore Tennis Center in Atlanta.
The victory allowed USC to improve to 6-0, while Tech slipped to 1-4.
The Gamecocks jumped on the Yellow Jackets in double play, sweeping the three matches to seize a 1-0 lead. Tech used three different doubles pairings, putting Spir with Juan Melian, King with Vikram Hundal and Eduardo Segura with Colin Edwards.
South Carolina’s Thiago Pinheiro and Ivan Machado handed an 8-4 defeat to King and Hundal, while the Gamecocks clinched the doubles point when Nick Jones and Kyle Koch downed Spir and Melian, 8-6. In No. 3 doubles, Andrew Adams and Chip Cox combined for a 7-6 (7-3) win over Tech’s Segura and Edwards.
“The doubles we came out and played tentative and we weren’t going for our shots,” said Tech head coach Kenny Thorne. “Anytime that happens you will not win the doubles point. We split up our teams hoping it was going to work a little better than it did. We were trying to Spir and Kevin with someone else and see if they could lift them up and that didn’t work.”
Tech, though, came out of the locker room in good form in singles as King, the nation’s ninth-ranked player, made quick work of Jones in No. 1 singles, 6-4 and 6-1. Spir then dispatched Machado, 7-5 and 6-2, while Segura and Edwards each won the first sets in their No. 5 and No. 6 matches.
“I felt like we started well in singles,” said Thorne. “The guys came out fighting hard and were executing pretty well. The sustainability of that comes back to how much you truly believe in yourself. We have a couple guys that have some maturing to do. We’re close, but we’re going need some guys to dig in for us to be successful with the schedule we have.”
The Gamecocks responded to Tech’s hot start. Cox ousted Hundal in straight-sets, 7-5 and 6-1 and Carl Eguez rallied to beat Edwards, 2-6, 6-1, 6-0. The clincher came in the No. 3 match as Adams downed Melian, 6-2 and 6-0. The day finished up with Koch coming from a set down to beat Segura, 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-6).
The Yellow Jackets return to action Wednesday, hosting city-rival Georgia State at the Bill Moore Tennis Center. The match is underway at 2:30 p.m.
Tennis Match ResultsSouth Carolina vs Georgia TechFeb 04, 2012 at Atlanta, Ga.
#69 South Carolina 5, #22 Georgia Tech 2 Singles competition: 1. #9 Kevin King (GT) def. Nick Jones (SCAR) 6-4, 6-1 2. Juan Spir (GT) def. Ivan Machado (SCAR) 7-5, 6-2 3. Andrew Adams (SCAR) def. Juan Melian (GT) 6-2, 6-0 4. Chip Cox (SCAR) def. Vikram Hundal (GT) 7-5, 6-1 5. Kyle Koch (SCAR) def. Eduardo Segura (GT) 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-6) 6. Carl Eguez (SCAR) def. Colin Edwards (GT) 2-6, 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition: 1. Nick Jones/Kyle Koch (SCAR) def. Juan Spir/Juan Melian (GT) 8-6 2. Thiago Pinheiro/Ivan Machado (SCAR) def. Kevin King/Vikram Hundal (GT) 8-4 3. Andrew Adams/Chip Cox (SCAR) def. Eduardo Segura/Colin Edwards (GT) 7-6 (7-3)
Match Notes: South Carolina 6-0; National ranking #69 Georgia Tech 1-4; National ranking #22 Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (1,2,4,6,3,5) T-3:16 A-82
