May 16, 2014

GGC 5, Graceland 1

GGC 5, Cumberland 2

LIVE BLOG COVERAGE

The Georgia Gwinnett men’s tennis team earned a pair of victories Thursday in its first-ever NAIA postseason action to advance to the 2014 NAIA Men’s Tennis National Championship semifinal round at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala.

The third-seeded Grizzlies first took out Graceland (Iowa) by a 5-1 score in the round of 16, which had been postponed one day due to inclement weather.

The Grizzlies turned around later Thursday to knock off sixth-seeded Cumberland (Tenn.), 5-2.

Georgia Gwinnett now meets second-seeded Auburn Montgomery on Friday at 1 p.m. CT for a spot in Saturday’s national championship as the top four seeds have held serve.

In the opener against Graceland, GGC took two of three doubles points to gain an early advantage. The wins came on the second (Bruno Tiberti/Mark Verryth) and third (Connor Clements/Matias Hatem) lines for GGC.

In singles play, Verryth quickly finished a 6-1, 6-3 victory, while Tiberti did the same at 6-3, 6-0. Clements’ 6-1, 6-3 clinched the match and play was halted as the Grizzlies moved on.

In the quarterfinals against Cumberland, the Grizzlies once again won two of three doubles points from Tiberti/Verryth and Clements/Hatem.

The Grizzlies stretched the lead to 4-1 with wins by Luke Morland (6-0, 6-1) and Hatem (6-1, 6-0) before the Bulldogs earned a point at fourth singles. Tiberti sealed the GGC win with a 6-2, 6-1 victory on the second line.

Georgia Gwinnett is now 19-0 on the season.

GrizzlyAthletics.com will provide live updates Friday from Mobile.