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.
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