The Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team collected its ninth straight victory against nationally ranked opposition with Thursday's 7-0 victory against No. 21 McPherson College (Kansas) at the GGC Tennis Facility.
The Grizzlies (14-1), ranked No. 2 in the latest NAIA Top 25 poll, have won nine straight matches. Eight of those triumphs have come against ranked opponents and the same number of victories have come by shutout.
GGC pulled away from the Bulldogs (7-6) by winning all six singles matches in straight sets.
Freshman
Dhakshineswar Suresh quickly gave the hosts a 2-0 advantage with a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 2 singles. The nation's No. 3-ranked singles player has won all 13 of his matches in straight sets this spring.
Senior
Leonardo Sprovieri, ranked No. 17 in the NAIA, won all six games of the opening set on the No. 3 court before closing out his match against Marcus Nardy with a 6-1 second-set score. That gave the hosts their third point of the dual match.
Junior
Mihailo Radosavljevic secured the Grizzlies' match-clinching point by winning all 12 games at No. 6 singles. Classmate
Charly Zick followed with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph on the No. 5 court.
Junior
Alex Gurmendi, ranked No. 2 nationally, picked up a strong 6-3, 6-1 win against Michael Beltran at No. 1 singles. Beltran entered the match ranked No. 2 among NAIA players in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Central Region.
Freshman
Santiago Villarruel closed out the strong singles performances with a 6-0, 6-4 victory in the No. 4 match.
GGC registered a pair of 6-2 doubles triumphs on the No. 1 and No. 3 courts to clinch the doubles point. Junior
Julius Kaufmann teamed with Villarruel for the first victory in the No. 3 match. Moments later, the Gurmendi-Suresh extended their winning streak to nine straight matches with a win at the top of the doubles lineup.
"There were strong singles performance throughout the day. Alex (Gurmendi) is settling into his spot nicely and playing well. It is great to see freshman Santiago (Villarruel) make a statement in our lineup and continue to dominate," said Head Coach
Hannah Keeling.
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host NCAA Division II Columbus State University (Georgia) on Friday, March 31, at the GGC Tennis Facility, starting at 2 p.m.
