The NAIA's top-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team picked up a pair of 7-0 home victories against NCAA Division II Belmont Abbey College (N.C.) on Friday afternoon at the GGC Tennis Facility.

The wins improve the Grizzlies to 8-0 on the season and increase the team's winning streak to 117 straight dual matches.

All 10 players on the team won singles matches in Friday's action.

In the first match, GGC grabbed the doubles point with 6-2 victories on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts. The tandem of junior Valentino Caratini and freshman Max Bertimon sealed the point with the triumph at No. 3 doubles. Sophomore Jose Dugo and freshman Alex Gurmendi were victorious in the No. 2 match.

Senior Federico Herrera Duran and junior Federico Bonacia teamed to win the last three games on the No. 1 court to pick up a 7-5 victory.

Then, the Grizzlies won all six singles matches in straight sets. Senior Mika Kosonen won all 12 games on the No. 4 court to give GGC a 2-0 lead. Gurmendi followed with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles before Bonacia secured the victory with a 6-0, 6-3 triumph at the top of the team's lineup.

Senior Sergio Valinotti registered a 6-2, 6-0 victory at No. 6 singles in his first singles match of the 2020 season. Senior Gregor Hutterer won by identical 6-2 set scores on the No. 5 court, while Dugo picked up a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 2 singles to round out the winners in the match.

In the second match, the doubles team of Caratini and Bertimon clinched the dual match point by winning six of the seven games. Other winners were the teams of sophomore Daniel Czepielewski and Hutterer, with a 6-1 triumph at No. 3 doubles, and Bonacia-Herrera, by a 6-3 match score.

Valinotti and Caratini gave the Grizzlies a 3-0 lead with identical 6-1, 6-0 wins on the No. 4 and 6 singles courts. Herrera Duran improved to 6-0 on the season with a 6-1, 6-2 victory on the No. 4 court that wrapped up the dual match victory.

Czepielewski rallied for a three-set win at No. 5 singles, winning the third-set tiebreaker 10-4. He forced the deciding set with a 6-3 win in the second set. Bertimon earned a 6-3, 6-1 win on the No. 1 court, while Kosonen picked up a 6-2, 6-4 triumph at No. 2 singles.
  "We got to play 10 guys in the doubleheader and each played a huge part in today's wins. It isn't that often when you get to go that deep. Our play in doubles set the tone for both matches. The conditions were not ideal, but I'm happy with the way we're playing right now," said Head Coach Chase Hodges.
  Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to play three matches on Saturday, Feb. 29, as part of the Grizzly Spring Break Invitational. The Grizzlies will play Cumberland University (Tenn.) at 9 a.m. before hosting a doubleheader against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Ind.), starting at 1 p.m. from the GGC Tennis Facility.