Feb. 27, 2009
ATLANTA – – In front of nearly 500 spectators, the Georgia Tech men’s tennis team fell 7-0 to second-ranked Georgia at the Bill Moore Tennis Center Friday.
“We had a great crowd out here today,” head coach Kenny Thorne said. “I want to thank all the incredible fans who came out. The fans deserved a win and we didn’t deliver so I apologize for that. We will be ready for Clemson on Wednesday.”
The Bulldogs took a1-0 lead early on winning two of the three doubles matches. The UGA tandem of Javier Garrapiz and Drake Bernstein was the first to triumph by taking down sophomore Muguruza and junior Austin Roebuck, 8-6, at the No. 3 spot. Tech would even play however as sophomores Guillermo Gomez and Ryan Smith won a thrilling 9-8 (5) match over the seventh-ranked duo of Nate Schnugg and Jamie Hunt.
Down to the last pairing, Georgia’s Christian Vitulli and Josh Varelli would be too much as freshman King and sophomore Doug Kenny fell 9-7, after leading 6-3 at one point in the match.
Not to be overshadowed by the score, the Jackets lost six very tough tie-breakers in singles on the day.
Tech went down 3-0 to begin singles play after King fell to UGA’s Jamie Hunt 6-0, 6-1 and sophomore Eliot Potvin lost 6-3, 7-6 (2) to Javier Garrapiz.
In a match that lasted almost three hours in length, seventh-ranked Guillermo Gomez battled with 11th-ranked Schnugg of Georgia in an exciting dual that would eventually lead to the clinch for the Bulldogs. After taking the first set 6-3, Gomez would drop the second in a 6-7 (3) tiebreaker. The sophomore from Alicante, Spain then went up 5-4 in the third, but Schnugg would win three-straight games en route to his 24th victory of the season. Gomez (19-5) lost for just the fifth time on the year.
Sophomore Miguel Muguruza (6-4, 6-7 (3), (0-1 (5)) and freshman Dusan Miljevic (3-6, 6-4, 0-1 (6)) each were tied at one-set apiece at the No. 4 and No. 5 positions, but both fell in single 10-game pro sets in the third to Josh Varella and Borja Mallo, respectively.
The Yellow Jackets begin ACC play against Clemson on Wednesday, March 4, at 2:30 p.m. in Clemson, S.C.
Tennis Match Results#2 Georgia 7, #54 Georgia Tech 0 Singles competition1. #11 Nate Schnugg (UGA) def. #7 Guillermo Gomez (GT) 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-52. Jamie Hunt (UGA) def. Kevin King (GT) 6-0, 6-13. Javier Garrapiz (UGA) def. Eliot Potvin (GT) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)4. Josh Varela (UGA) def. Miguel Muguruza (GT) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (10-5)5. Borja Malo (UGA) def. Dusan Miljevic (GT) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)6. Drake Bernstein (UGA) def. Ryan Smith (GT) 7-6 (7-5), 6-0
Doubles competition 1. Ryan Smith/Guillermo Gomez (GT) def. #7 Nate Schnugg/Jamie Hunt (UGA) 9-8 (7-5) 2. Christian Vitulli/Josh Varela (UGA) def. Kevin King/Doug Kenny (GT) 9-7 3. Javier Garrapiz/Drake Bernstein (UGA) def. Miguel Muguruza/Austin Roebuck (GT) 8-6
Match Notes: Georgia 10-1; National ranking #2 Georgia Tech 4-4; National ranking #54 Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,3,1,4,5,6) T-5:20 A-496
