The winning ways continue into 2021 for the Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team with a 6-1 season-opening victory against Lander University (South Carolina) on Thursday afternoon at the GGC Tennis Facility.
The Grizzlies, the NAIA's top-ranked team, extended their winning streak to 124 consecutive dual matches.
This victory was filled with several challenges against an opponent ranked No. 9 in NCAA Division II. First, GGC needed comebacks to win at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, giving the team an early 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
Juniors
Vicente Lagos and
Agustin Tamagnone clinched the match's doubles point by winning the last three games on the No. 3 court to register a 6-4 victory. Later, the team of sophomore
Jose Dugo and freshman
Alex Gurmendi rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win their No. 2 doubles match in a tiebreaker. The duo won seven of the eight points during the tiebreaker.
Junior
Valentino Caratini and freshman
Luis Gomar registered a 6-2 victory at the top of GGC's doubles lineup.
Meanwhile, the hosts registered four quick points to take control of singles action. Gurmendi, playing on the No. 1 court for the first time, picked up a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Lander's preseason All-Peach Beach Conference performer Guillaume Tattevin. That gave the Grizzlies a 2-0 lead.
"Alex has come back in 2021 almost like a new player. We noticed it on the first day of practice," said Head Coach
Chase Hodges. "He has been playing so well that I wanted to see what would happen if he played in the No. 1 spot in the lineup. If he gets comfortable in that spot, exciting things could develop for us."
Tamagnone was victorious in his GGC debut with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph on the No. 6 court. Dugo clinched the match win with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 2 singles. Caratini shook off a slow start to win 6-4, 6-0 on the No. 3 singles court.
Caratini said, "I feel comfortable on the court. I am one of the experienced players and can share those lessons with my teammates. Luis was making his debut with us and I tried to be a calming influence to him. He's a really talented player and our games work well together."
Gomar rounded out the winners in the season opener with a hard-fought three-set victory at No. 4 singles. He won the opening set 6-2 before Lander's Jamieson Nathan bounced back by capturing the second set by winning a tiebreaker 7-3. Then, Gomar edged Nathan 10-8 in the deciding third set.
The Bearcats' lone victory came with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Lagos at No. 5 singles.
Players appearing at No. 4-6 matches in GGC's men's and women's tennis matches were all making their spring dual match debuts.
"Half of our lineup consisted of players appearing in their first matches for us. Lander plays good at doubles and sweeping all three of those matches was great. However, that only counts as one point (in the match). When we're successful in doubles, we're going to be really difficult to beat. So, winning that doubles point really shifted some momentum in our favor," said Hodges.
Georgia Gwinnett College (1-0) is scheduled to host NCAA Division II Belmont Abbey College (North Carolina) for three matches on Saturday, February 6, at the GGC Tennis Facility, starting at 10 a.m.
