Strong singles performances gave the NAIA top-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team a come-from-behind victory against NCAA Division III powerhouse Emory University (Georgia) on the road 6-3 Saturday afternoon.

The Grizzlies (13-0) won both meetings with Emory this spring.

Saturday featured the host Eagles taking a 2-1 lead following doubles action after the teams split matches by 8-4 scores on the No. 1 and No. 3 courts. Senior Alex Gurmendi and sophomore Santiago Villarruel were victorious at the top of the team's doubles lineup.

Emory (10-3) won a tiebreaker on the No. 2 court to take an early lead in the match.

But like the March 11th 6-1 victory in Lawrenceville, the Grizzlies responded with strong singles play after trailing following doubles.

Gurmendi evened the match, at 2-2, with a 6-2, 6-1 victory on the No. 1 court.

Villarruel won by identical 6-1 set scores to give the visitors a 3-2 lead. Emory would even the match with a straight-set triumph on the No. 3 court.

However, GGC would win the final three singles matches, beginning with freshman Luis Francisco Sampedro collecting a 6-4, 6-0 victory on the No. 4 court.

Senior Aleksa Ciric tallied the match-clinching fifth point at No. 2 singles with a 6-4 score in the second set. Ciric took the opening set in a tiebreaker by a 7-1 score.

Sophomore Aleksandr Kalinin won a third-set tiebreaker 10-2 on the No. 6 court. Kalinin forced the deciding third set with a 6-2 second-set score after dropping an opening-set tiebreaker 7-5.
  "We competed well today and playing Emory on the road is a tough match. We look forward to this one each year. Our singles performance was pretty strong throughout and we're improving in each match. Santiago played amazing today and Luis had one of his best performances of the season," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
  Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host SCAD Atlanta on Tuesday, April 11, at the GGC Tennis Facility, starting at 6:30 p.m.