The NAIA's No. 1-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team opened its 2025 spring dual-match season with an impressive 7-0 home triumph against Belmont Abbey College (North Carolina) on Friday afternoon at the GGC Tennis Facility.

GGC (1-0) relied on strong singles play, with five of the team's six triumphs coming in straight sets, against a NCAA Division II opponent that concluded the 2024 campaign ranked No. 25 in the country.

After capturing the doubles point, senior Andoni Garmendia gave the hosts a 2-0 lead by winning the opening set 6-1 and capturing the first game of the second set before his opponent on the No. 5 court was forced to retire due to an injury. Garmendia won the inaugural UTR NAIA National singles championship last fall to commence the 2024-25 season.

Junior Luis Francisco Sampedro won all 12 games of his No. 4 singles match before classmate Santiago Villarruel collected GGC's convincing fourth point of the match with a 6-2, 6-0 triumph on the No. 3 court. Villarruel was playing for the first time since winning the NAIA singles national crown at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Cup last October.

Senior Jeremias Rocco was victorious in his GGC spring debut with a 6-4, 6-0 triumph at the top of the singles lineup. Classmate Aleksandr Kalinin followed with a three-set victory on the No. 2 court, winning the tiebreaker 10-8 in the deciding set. Kalinin took the opening set by a 6-3 score.

Freshman Mateo Larrea won by 6-1, 6-1 set scores in his first match as a Grizzly on the No. 6 court.

In doubles, GGC swept all three matches, with the Francisco Sampedro-Larrea duo securing the point in a 6-4 win on the No. 3 court. Kalinin and Garmendia teamed for a quick 6-1 victory at No. 2 doubles.

The Rocco-Villarruel pairing, the ITA Cup 2024 NAIA national champions, rounded out the winners with a 7-5 scoreline at the top of the lineup in Friday's debut.
 
Coach's Corner
"Beating a good Division II team 7-0 is a good start to the season. It has been a tough week with the cold weather conditions leading up to the match. However, I couldn't be prouder with how the players came out today. We had three new players in the singles lineup, each playing their first matches as a Grizzly. Getting those first-match nerves out of the way was really great," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
 
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host NCAA Division II Lander University (South Carolina) on Tuesday, January 28, at the GGC Tennis Facility, starting at 2 p.m.