The NAIA's No. 2-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team called upon its strong singles play to rally past NCAA Division II No. 6 Columbus State University (Georgia) for a 5-1 victory Friday afternoon at the GGC Tennis Facility.
The Grizzlies (15-1) have now won 10 consecutive matches.
However, this latest dual match victory was filled with intrigue after GGC fell behind 1-0 after dropping the doubles point of the match. Momentum quickly changed in the host's favor as players won the opening set on five of the six singles courts.
Leading the charge was junior
Alex Gurmendi in the No. 1 match. He dominated play against Santiago Perez, the nation's top-ranked Division II singles player.
Gurmendi, ranked No. 2 nationally in NAIA, won by identical 6-1 set scores to tie the dual match 1-1.
Freshman
Santiago Villarruel then gave the hosts their first lead of the day, 2-1, with a 6-3, 6-0 triumph on the No. 5 court.
Junior
Aleksa Ciric secured another point with a 7-5, 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles against Pietro Martinetti, ranked No. 73 nationally in Division II.
Clinching the comeback match triumph was freshman
Dhakshineswar Suresh with a strong 6-2, 6-2 win on the No. 2 court.
At the same time, senior
Leonardo Sprovieri wrapped up his No. 4 match by a 6-3, 6-1 score.
"The men provided an incredible effort with every player in the lineup competing with everything they had. That's what led to our success today. Alex (Gurmendi) has been working extremely hard on and off the court and those efforts are really starting to pay off," said Head Coach
Hannah Keeling.
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to travel to NCAA Division III Emory University (Georgia) in Atlanta on Sunday, April 2, starting at 4 p.m.
