Strong doubles play set the tone for the NAIA's top-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team to score a 7-0 victory Friday afternoon against No. 17 Montreat College (North Carolina) to open play in the Grizzly Invitational at the GGC Tennis Facility.

GGC (5-0) swept all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The junior tandem of Daniel Czepielewski and Matthias Haim clinched the point on the No. 2 court with a 6-4 victory. They improved to 5-0 on the season. Senior Vicente Lagos teamed with freshman Guilhem Perez Le Tiec for an opening 6-2 triumph on the No. 3 court. Then, seniors Valentino Caratini and Agustin Tamagnone went to 5-0 for the spring with a 6-2 victory at the top of the lineup.

In singles, the Grizzlies won five of the six matches in straight sets. Haim extended GGC's lead to 2-0 with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 victory on the No. 2 court. Perez Le Tiec won by identical 6-1 set scores at No. 5 for his third straight singles win to give the hosts a commanding 3-0 lead.

Sophomore Alex Gurmendi secured the match-winning fourth victory with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles. Caratini followed with a 6-2, 6-0 triumph on the No. 4 court and Lagos picked up a straight-set win on the No. 6 court. Tamagnone closed out the match by winning a hard-fought three-set match at No. 3 singles. He captured the second set 6-2 and carried the momentum into the third-set tiebreaker with a 10-7 triumph.
  "I was very impressed with our doubles play today. We came out and took care of business against a very good Montreat team. Guilhem (Perez Le Tiec) looked really good today in his singles match," said Head Coach Chase Hodges.
  Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to conclude the first weekend of the Grizzly Invitational on Saturday, February 12, with a home match against NCAA Division III Emory University (Georgia) at the GGC Tennis Facility, starting at 1 p.m.