April 13, 2012
Raleigh, N.C. – NC State received big comeback wins over Kevin King and Juan Spir in the top two singles matches and a three-set victory by freshman Austin Powell over Juan Melian in the decisive contest Friday to pull out a 4-3 men’s tennis victory over Georgia Tech at the Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Outdoor Tennis Stadium.
The 60th-ranked Yellow Jackets, who swept all three doubles contests and held leads of 2-0 and 3-2, dropped their second straight match and fell to 9-11 overall, 4-6 in conference play, and will conclude their regular season Sunday at Wake Forest. The No. 42 Wolfpack improved to 18-8 overall and 4-6 in the ACC.
No. 61 Jaime Pulgar downed King, the Tech All-American ranked No. 21 nationally, after losing the opening set 6-4, with wins of 6-3 and 6-0. King is the highest ranked player Pulgar, who is 19-4 overall and 7-3 in the ACC, has beaten this year.
Unranked senior Dominic Hodgson pulled off a similar upset after losing his first set 6-1 against Spir, ranked 48th. Hodgson patiently waited on Spir’s overwhelming serve and fought back for a 7-6 (9-7) win in the second set to even the match. Hodgson outlasted his opponent for a 6-4 win in the third set.
Georgia Tech swept all three doubles matches behind the play of King and Spir, who are ranked No. 2 nationally. They beat Pulgar and Robbie Mudge 8-3 to take the No. 1 match. Junior Dave Thomson and sophomore Sean Weber jumped out to an early lead in the No. 3 match, but fell 9-7 to Dusan Miljevic and Eduardo Segura.
Tech freshman Vikram Hundal increased the Jackets’ lead to 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-4 straight-set victory over Thomson at the No. 6 singles position.
Mudge started the Wolfpack rally by winning in straight sets over Tech freshman Sebastian Lopez, 6-0, 6-3, in the No. 5 singles match, and Hodgson tied the match with his win over Spir.
Tech senior Dusan Miljevic restored the lead to the Jackets with a three-set win, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-2, over Wolfpack senior Julian Sullivan at No. 3.
Pulgar then tied the match at 3-3, and the final point came down to Powell against the Yellow Jackets’ junior Melian. Powell won the first set, then Melian quickly tied it and took a 5-4 lead in the third set. But Powell won the final three games to give his team its come-from-behind victory.
NC State 4, Georgia Tech 3
April 13, 2012
Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Outdoor Tennis Stadium, Raleigh, N.C.
Singles
1. No. 61 Jaime Pulgar (NC State) def. No. 21 Kevin King (GT), 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
2. Dominic Hodgson (NC State) def. No. 48 Juan Spir (GT), 1-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.
3. Dusan Miljevic (GT) def. Julian Sullivan (NC State), 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-2.
4. Austin Powell (NC State) def. Juan Melian (GT), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
5. Robbie Mudge (NC State) def. Sebastian Lopez (GT), 6-0, 6-3.
6. Vikram Hundal (GT) def. Dave Thomson (NC State) 6-3, 6-4.
Order of finish: 6, 5, 2, 3, 1, 4*.
Doubles
1. No. 2 Kevin King/Juan Spir (GT) def. Robbie Mudge/Jaime Pulgar (NC State), 8-3.
2. Sebastian Lopez/Vikram Hundal (GT) def. Julian Sullivan/Dominic Hodgson (NC State), 8-4.
3. Dave Thomson/Sean Weber (NC State) Dusan Miljevic/Eduardo Segura (GT), 9-7.
Order of finish: 1, 2*, 3.
