There was no letdown from a milestone day for the Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team, with the Grizzlies winning a matchup of defending division national champions, 4-2, at Columbus State University on Wednesday in Columbus, Ga.
GGC (19-0) is the No. 1 and defending NAIA champs while Columbus State (13-2) was last year's NCAA Division II titlist.
Freshman
Jose Dugo won the clinching point with a hard-fought three-set victory at No. 3 singles.
Georgia Gwinnett College grabbed the match's doubles point with rallies on the No. 2 (senior
Rafael Coutinho and sophomore
Valentino Caratini) and No. 3 (junior
Federico Herrera Duran and freshman
Daniel Czepielewski) courts. Both doubles teams trailed 6-5 and won each match in a tiebreaker.
Columbus State mounted a rally in singles play with straight-set wins on the No. 1 and No. 6 courts. The win at the top of the lineup gave the hosts a 2-1 lead.
However, junior
Mika Kosonen halted the momentum with a straight-set triumph on the No. 5 court to square the match at 2-2. The remaining three matches would be determined after challenging three sets.
Sophomore
Federico Bonacia picked up a win in the first of those matches at No. 2 singles, putting the Grizzlies on top 3-2. Then, Dugo got the pivotal fourth point to seal the victory – the program's 101st straight win.
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host SCAD Atlanta on Saturday, April 6, at 1 p.m. at the GGC Tennis Facility.
