March 25, 2011
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech got quick straight-set wins in singles Friday from Juan Spir, Kevin King, Eliot Potvin and Dean O’Brien and swept the doubles point as the 21st-ranked Yellow Jackets rolled over No. 54 NC State, 7-0, in an Atlantic Coast Conference tennis match at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
Tech improved to 2-1 in the ACC, 11-2 overall, while the Wolfpack dropped to 0-3 in the conference, 8-7 overall. The Jackets host No. 39 Wake Forest Sunday at 1 p.m.
“Juan, Eliot and Dean did a great job of getting on top of their opponents early and them finishing them off,” said head coach Kenny Thorne. “We’re going to have a lot of matches coming up that we need to take care of business the best way possible. Magin and Guillermo had great battles and won under pressure. So it was very good overall today.”
On a sunny, breezy day with temperatures in the mid 60s, Tech had little trouble capturing the doubles point. The Jackets’ 11th-ranked tandem of Spir and King defeated Dominic Hodgson and Rob Lowe, 8-3, at the No. 1 position, while Guillermo Gomez and O’Brien clinched it with an 8-5 win over Matt Thomson and David Chermak at No. 3. Potvin and Ryan Smith won their match at No. 2 by the same score.
“We competed very well mentally today,” Thorne added. “Kevin and Juan did a great job getting a win in doubles and getting off the court quickly. I was proud of Eliot and Ryan after losing a break, breaking right back and taking the match.”
The Jackets clinched the match by winning the first four singles matches in less than 90 minutes.
Spir, ranked 57th in the nation, struck first with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2 over Julian Sullivan. Within minutes after that, O’Brien completed a 6-2, 6-3 win over Sean Weber at No. 5, and Kevin King got the deciding point for Tech with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Dave Thomson at No. 2. Eliot Potvin quickly followed by finishing off Rafael Paez, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 4.
It took more than an hour for Gomez and Magin Ortiga to complete their matches, but both of them won to complete the shutout. Ortiga rallied from a first-set loss to defeat Sean Weber at No. 6, and Gomez got a hard-earned, straight-set win at No. 1, 7-6, 7-5.
Tennis Match Results
NC State vs Georgia Tech
Mar 25, 2011 at Atlanta, Ga.
#21 Georgia Tech 7, #54 NC State 0
Singles competition
1. #14 Guillermo Gomez (GT) def. Dominic Hodgson (ST) 7-6 (7-2), 7-5
2. #57 Juan Spir (GT) def. Julian Sullivan (ST) 6-2, 6-1
3. Kevin King (GT) def. Dave Thomson (ST) 6-3, 6-3
4. Eliot Potvin (GT) def. Rafael Paez (ST) 6-3, 6-2
5. Magin Ortiga (GT) def. Ivan Sanchez Gomez (ST) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (11-9)
6. Dean O’Brien (GT) def. Sean Weber (ST) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #11 Juan Spir/Kevin King (GT) def. Dominic Hodgson/Rob Lowe (ST) 8-3
2. Eliot Potvin/Ryan Smith (GT) def. Dave Thomson/Sean Weber (ST) 8-5
3. Guillermo Gomez/Dean O’Brien (GT) def. Matt Thomson/David Chermak (ST) 8-5
Match Notes:
NC State 8-7, 0-3 ACC; National ranking #54
Georgia Tech 11-2, 2-1 ACC; National ranking #21
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,6,3,4,5,1) T-3:40
