The NAIA's top-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team relied on strong singles play to rally for a 4-1 victory at NCAA Division III No. 9 Emory University in the regular season finale on Tuesday afternoon in Atlanta.

Emory (11-5) used a rally of its own to win the doubles point, gaining victories on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts. That came after GGC senior Jeremias Rocco and junior Santiago Villarruel were victorious by a 6-3 score on the No. 1 court. 

John Lasanajak and Alec Anghel tied the doubles action for the Eagles with a 6-3 win on the No. 2 court. Then, the host's Ajay Kartik and Joshua Lai captured the clinching doubles point following a thrilling 10-8 tiebreaker score.

The Grizzlies (16-2) started their comeback with senior Andoni Garmendia having a dominant 6-2, 6-0 victory over Anghel at No. 4 singles.

Villarruel followed with a 6-3, 6-1 win on the No. 2 court against Christian Liew, giving GGC a 2-1 lead in the match.

The momentum continued with junior Luis Francisco Sampedro also being victorious in straight sets by 6-3, 6-2 scores against Emory's Ruilin Feng on the No. 1 court.

Freshman Kamron McIntosh-Ross clinched the dual match victory with a 6-1, 6-4 victory against Lasanajak on the No. 6 court.
 
Coach's Corner
"In doubles, we simply didn't execute in the bigger moments. That's something you can't do when playing only one set. We'll talk about it as a team and make sure adjustments are made moving forward. We had very strong performances across all singles lines. We're looking really strong in our singles play. Overall, it was a good win against a good Emory team on the road," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
 
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College will now prepare to compete in the NAIA National Championship in Mobile, Alabama, beginning on Tuesday, May 13. The Grizzlies are the 10-time defending national champions.