Box Score

LAWRENCEVILLE - In last season's match vs. Lander, the Georgia Gwinnett men's tennis team fought off one of the toughest challenges to its historic winning streak, coming back from 3-0 down to win in 5-4 fashion. This time around, however, it was the top-ranked Grizzlies who took the early lead, and they never looked back, beating the visiting Bearcats in 7-2 fashion at GGC Tennis Facility on Friday.

The Grizzlies have now won 27 consecutive matches and hold a 5-0 on the season. Lander, which entered the encounter with a No. 8 national ranking in NCAA Division II, dropped to 1-1.

"This is a really good win for us," GGC Head Coach Chase Hodges said. "To win 7-2 over a team like Lander is impressive, and it's definitely the best performance of the season so far. Getting ahead in doubles was big for us, and it gave the guys a lot of momentum heading into singles."

Lander drew first blood in doubles as the team of Marc Hofer and Thibaut Leoussoff combined to hand GGC's Lachlan McPhee and Luke Morland an 8-4 decision, marking the first time that the Grizzlies had dropped a doubles match on the season.

However, the LU lead wouldn't last long as the Argentinian duo of Matias Hatem and Kevin Konfederak picked up a hard-fought 8-6 decision over Benjamin Salle and Sam Poutignat at No. 3, and it was Jordan Cox and Connor Clements who secured the lead for the Green and Gray, battling all the way back from a 3-0 deficit to win 9-7 over Adam Jonsson and Loic Minery at the top spot.

"Jordan and Connor were down two breaks and them coming back was huge," Hodges said. "Then the guys took care of business in singles. Any time that we can come out of the doubles round with a lead, we feel pretty good about our chances to win the match."

The top half of the GGC line-up maintained its seemingly customary dominance in singles, beginning with a second-ranked Jordan Cox, who grabbed a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Hofer at No. 1. Kevin Konfederak continued his stellar play since stepping on campus last month, beating Salle, who is currently ranked No. 21 in Division II, by a score of 6-2, 6-0, and Matias Hatem rounded it out with a win by the same score over Leoussoff.

Hatem, who is ranked seventh in NAIA, now holds a perfect 22-0 record in dual match competition.

Clements, who was key in the doubles comeback earlier in the afternoon, once again battled some early adversity, coming back from being a set down to win 2-6, 7-6, 10-7 over Minery on Court 4, and Lachlan McPhee earned a 6-2, 6-2 decision against Jonsson at No. 5 to round out the singles victories for the Grizzlies. Clements and McPhee are ranked No. 43 and No. 17, respectively.

"Singles was as much of a grind, if not more, as doubles was," Clements said. "The guy pushed and tried to put some pressure on me, but I was there for the battle. I just knew I wasn't going to lose my match, even if the team match was already decided."

At the sixth and final spot, Luke Morland saw his 15-match win streak in dual play snapped with a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Diego Zegarra.

NOTES: GGC's 27-match winning streak is the longest of any sport at GGC ... Overall, the Grizzlies have won 11 consecutive home matches, dating back to April 2013 ... GGC is 37-1 all-time with the only loss coming to Columbus State in 2013 ... The Grizzlies are now 8-1 all-time vs. competition from NCAA Division II and 6-0 vs. foes from the state of South Carolina, including 2-0 in both categories this week after knocking off No. 31 USC Aiken on Wednesday ... GGC (NAIA), Armstrong Atlantic State (NCAA Division II), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (NCAA Division III) and ASA College (NJCAA) are the only schools in the country that have three players ranked in the top 20 in singles in their respective division ... Kevin Konfederak, who was named A.I.I. Male Athlete of the Week earlier this week is just the third to earn the honor this school year, joining men's soccer players Jamie King and Lewis Sharpe.

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