Getting Up for an SEC Match at South Carolina

It is always easy to get up for a match with an SEC opponent. Georgia Tech traveled to South Carolina, a team they had defeated last season, with the hope of taking them out again. In college tennis, the SEC is one of the top three conferences in the country and the outcome always provides a good indicator of how your program matches up. While the ACC is also one of the top conferences in the country, it hasn't won as many titles as the SEC or Pac 10. I love watching inter-conference play with the SEC because it gives you a chance to see what the talent is looking like in a leading conference.

Georgia Tech certainly came to play on Saturday in Columbia. In doubles, the ones fell behind early while the twos and threes took early leads. The ones were the first to finish with South Carolina winning 8-6. At number two, the team of Kevin King and Doug Kenny battled for a 9-7 win, evening the match at 1-1. For awhile it looked like the Yellow Jackets would stay in control on court three, but the Gamecocks battled back and took the match 8-6 and South Carolina was up 1-0.

There was a great crowd on hand for this one. Lots of students showed up, although I bet some of them were probably lured there to get a free Gamecocks tennis t-shirt. USC also hands out free pizza and soda after the doubles match and that food disappeared pretty quickly.

As the singles started, you knew this would turn out to be a close one. Carolina has four indoor courts, so it would be awhile before the five and six players would get out on the court. Guillermo Gomez came out strong on court one for the Jackets. On court two, Kevin King also grabbed the early lead. You knew right from the start that Eliot Potvin was going to have a tough day for GT on court three. He ended up going down in straight sets. King and Gomez each won the first set, then lost the second 1-6. Both players came back to win the third set 6-3. It was 2-2 at that point.

Court four was the key match. Ivan Machado of South Carolina took the first set on Dusan Miljevic. Machado had some really great returns and played very consistently throughout the match, but Miljevic started to get back in it in the second set. He took a big lead on Machado and won it 6-3 and seemed to have the edge. Machado got off to a fast start in the third set and did not look back, winning it 6-1.

At number six singles, Ryan Smith of GT played Ivan Cressoni, a tough lefty who was able to keep Smith moving all over the court. Smith was kept off balance the entire match and Cressoni won it in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. Smith never really got a chance to break him and the loss gave Carolina the match.

For a time it looked like the number five singles match would even things up between the two teams. Miguel Muguruza of GT took the first set 6-3 on Johannes Pulsofrt and went up a break in set two. Pulsofrt worked his way back into the set and took control, winning set two 6-4. He maintained that control right through the third set, winning that one 6-2.

I thought it was a great match. It lasted about six hours and all but one singles match went three sets. The Gamecocks played well and fought back to earn the win. It will be interesting to see where they end up in the SEC. For a team with as much youth as the Yellow Jackets have, they have a lot to look forward to.

Time.

Starting the Season in Atlanta

The college tennis season is underway. On a weekend visit to Atlanta two weeks ago, I decided to head over to midtown to see the Georgia Tech men's opener vs the University of South Carolina Upstate followed by a match against Wofford.

Kenny Thorne is fielding a young, talented team this season. The Jackets have five sophomores, two freshmen and one junior and they got off to a good start against USC Upstate.

Kevin King and Doug Kenny gave the Jackets a 1-0 lead with an 8-4 win at #2. The other two matches were tight. Ryan Smith and Austin Roebuck went back and forth before taking the match 9-7 giving GT the doubles point. Shortly after that win, the number one team of Guillermo Gomez and Eliot Potvin finished off another tight match winning 9-7.

Tech was in control during singles play and the best match of the day turned out to be at #5, where the lone junior from Athens, Georgia, Austin Roebuck, played Arnaldo Lovera. This was a close match from the start. Lovera won the first set 7-6. Roebuck was down most of the second set and it looked like it would be a straight sets defeat. Roebuck got a late break and was able to send it to a tie break, where he won it 9-7 and send the match to a third set. Since GT had already wrapped up the match, the two played a 10 point tie break. This tie break was tight too and Roebuck had to fight to finally get up a mini-break. He pulled it out 12-10 and the Jackets won the match 5-2. Freshman Kevin King played at number one singles and won his first match 6-3, 6-2.

I expected the second match of the day to be even tighter, as Wofford is always a tough competitor and a consistent leader in the Southern Conference. I knew things would be different in this match when GT won at #2 doubles, 8-0. The GT ones and threes were also cruising along and they won respectively, 8-5 and 8-4. I was only able to stay for the doubles as I had to make my way back to Charlotte, but I was not surprised to learn later that the Ramblin Wreck swept the singles matches as well and took the match 7-0.

While the team is young, I think they have some really good talent, especially in freshman Kevin King. It is going to be interesting to see how this team develops over the 2009 season. There was a nice crowd on hand for an opening match. I talked briefly with Kenny Thorne and let him know I'd be out to cheer the team on at South Carolina the following weekend.

Time.