The Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team picked up its seventh victory to start the season behind a 5-2 road triumph against NCAA Division II No. 21-ranked Lander University on Wednesday afternoon in Greenwood, South Carolina.

The NAIA's No. 2-ranked Grizzlies (7-0) were playing for the first time since capturing the Intercollegiate Tennis Association NAIA Indoor National Championship on Sunday.

GGC collected a hard-fought doubles point with the senior duo of Santiago Villarruel and Luis Francisco Sampedro clinching the early lead in a tiebreaker on the No. 1 court.

Senior Juan Carlos Garcia teamed with freshman Yerassyl Yerdilda to win all six games on the No. 3 court. Lander had evened the doubles portion of the match with a 7-5 victory on the No. 2 court.

The visitors relied on strong singles play to stretch the advantage in the match. Carlos Garcia was victorious 6-3, 6-1 on the No. 3 court before junior Kanan Gasimov also collected a 6-3, 6-1 triumph, this time at No. 5 singles.

Sophomore Gian Durrer clinched the match victory by tallying GGC's fourth point with a 6-1, 6-4 win on the No. 6 court.

Senior Francisco Perez Esnaola rounded out the team's winners with a 6-4, 6-1 victory on the No. 4 court.
 
Coach's Corner
"We passed a good test today. We responded well to playing a tough road match three days after a national title win. We were a bit slow out of the blocks in some spots, but our depth proved to be a key element again today. Our group is continuing to grow, proving we are hard to beat even when we're not at our best," said Head Coach Tom Rees.
 
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to play No. 8 University of the Cumberlands and Montreat College (North Carolina) on Saturday, February 21, in Clemson, South Carolina, starting at 9 a.m.