The NAIA's top-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team closed out the 2024 regular season in grand style, sweeping No. 8 Middle Georgia State University 7-0 after honoring five seniors Saturday at the GGC Tennis Facility.

The Grizzlies (14-0) showed no rust from a three-week break in the schedule, relying on fine performances from seniors Aleksa Ciric, Alex Gurmendi, Julius Kaufmann, Mihailo Radosavljevic, and Charly Zick to collect the sweep in the final match of the regular season.

Gurmendi teamed with sophomore Santiago Villarruel for the clinching doubles point with a 6-2 victory on the No. 1 court. Ciric and sophomore Luis Francisco Sampedro collected the first doubles triumph of the day, also by a 6-2 score, on the No. 3 court. The Kaufmann-Radosavljevic pairing rallied from a 5-2 deficit to win their No. 2 match in a tiebreaker – completing the doubles sweep.

Villarruel extended the dual-match lead to 2-0 by winning 12 of the 13 games on the No. 6 singles court. Gurmendi also picked up a straight-set triumph, winning 6-3, 7-5 on the No. 1 court for the team's third point of the match.

Gurmendi holds career program records with 216 matches played and stands second all-time with 190 total victories. The senior's 105 singles victories are the most collected in program history.

"Alex has been the foundation of GGC tennis over the last 4 to 5 years. He has left his mark on our program. His work is far from over and the rest of our seniors. I'm proud for the seniors winning their final home match," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.

Ciric clinched the match victory with a 6-2, 7-5 victory at No. 2 singles. Then, Francisco Sampedro won by 6-2, 6-3 scores on the No. 4 court before sophomore Aleksandr Kalinin picked up a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles.

Zick won a third-set tiebreaker 10-4 after forcing the deciding set with a 6-3 second-set victory on the No. 3 court.

GGC's senior class has captured three NAIA national championships and contributed to the longest winning streak in collegiate sports history with 173 consecutive victories.
  "It was a special day as we honored our incredible seniors with a win against a high-quality Middle Georgia State team. We put together one of our best doubles performances of the season. We're definitely moving in the right direction," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
  Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to compete in the 2024 NAIA National Championship from May 14-18 at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama.