Nov. 7, 2013
THE FLATS – With its ranks thinned by injury this fall, Georgia Tech concludes its fall season with three members of its team competing in the Bulldog Scramble, Friday through Sunday in Athens, Ga.
Head coach Kenny Thorne will send freshmen Carlos Benito (8-6 this fall) and Cole Fiegel (5-4) to Athens along with sophomore Nathan Rakitt (6-5).
“We have been improving each tournament this fall,” said Thorne. “The goal is to implement the things we have worked on this fall. Our guys have been working hard on some specific areas in their games and we want them to finish very strong. This is our last chance to work on these areas in tournaments for the fall. It will be a good opportunity for these guys establish themselves.”
The Bulldog Scramble is a three-day round-robin event in which 37 players from seven teams participate in a rotation of singles and doubles matches throughout the weekend. Teams participating in this weekend’s event are Georgia, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, Furman, Vanderbilt, East Tennessee State and LSU. Doubles matches will be one six-game set with a tie-breaker at 5-all and one-ad scoring, while singles matches will be played at the normal best 2-of-3 sets.
Benito (Madrid, Spain) is the only one of the three Tech players competing this weekend who has participated in all four of Tech’s previous events this fall. The freshman made it through three rounds of consolation at the UVA Ranked+1 event and reached the finals of consolation singles in the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional.
Fiegel (Alachua, Fla.), reached the round of 16 at the Southern Intercollegiate in September and won a pair of consolation matches after losing in the first round of the USTA Clay Court Invitational.
Rakitt (Marietta, Ga.) advanced to the main draw semifinals at the Southern Intercollegiate and the consolation semis at the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional. He and Fiegel reached the semifinals of the USTA/ITA Regional in doubles and have a 4-2 record as a duo.
