Orangeburg, S.C.--Sophomore Thomas Cook fought off three match points with the team score tied at 3-3, to win a third-set tie-breaker that gave the No. 70 Georgia State men's tennis team to a 4-3 victory at South Carolina State on Wednesday.
Cook, playing at No. 2 singles, didn't blink when he faced three match points in a third-set tiebreaker that would have given South Carolina State its first ever victory over GSU. Instead, he battled to a grueling 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11) victory over SCSU's Dmytro Kovalevych for the match-clinching victory. The Panthers (8-2) rallied from being down 3-1 in the team score with three straight singles victories to secure the win.
"We had our back against the wall and had no room for error being down 3-1," third-year head coach Chase Hodges said, "We received three clutch victories from Lucas Santana, Matias Hatem and then Thomas Cook."
"It was a pretty dramatic way to clinch the match," Cook said following the match, "After I shook my opponent's hand, the guys rushed the court to congratulate me. I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates, it wasn't just me, Matias and Lucas battled through three sets too."
Junior Lucas Santana kicked off the rally by fighting back for a 0-6, 7-5, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles over Bulldogs junior Young Lee-Kwan. Santana now has 39 career singles victories and has a chance to earn his 40th career win this weekend at the Sharon Lester Tennis Center.
Freshman Matias Hatem then tied the match up after he defeated South Carolina State junior Anton Protsenko, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Hatem is now a 9-1 on the season and owns a six-match winning streak in singles play. Cook followed with his win while both team's players and coaches looked on.
"Thomas really stepped up saving three match points to win the match," Hodges said.
Junior Victor Valente, the No. 14-ranked player in the ITA Southeast Singles rankings, grabbed a win at No. 1 singles after SCSU freshman Tomas Bizon retired. Valente led 3-0 in the first set when Bizon retired.
The win is Georgia State's fourth-consecutive victory while the Bulldogs fell to 4-2.
"South Carolina State is going to win a lot of matches," Hodges said, "Today was a tremendous match, one of the best I've been a part of. Our guys refused to give up and kept fighting, and now we're 8-2 and have won four matches in a row."
Georgia State hosts a busy weekend at the Sharon Lester Tennis Center beginning on Saturday. The Panthers take on Gardner-Webb at 1 p.m. on Saturday before playing a doubleheader on Sunday. GSU squares off with UNC Asheville at 1 p.m. before tussling with Georgia Southwestern State at 6 p.m. Visit the Georgia State men's tennis page on www.GeorgiaStateSports.com for a preview of all the matches.
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