Atlanta, Ga.--The Georgia State men's tennis team fell at No. 22-ranked Georgia Tech Wednesday afternoon at Tech's Bill Moore Tennis Center.
Georgia State's top doubles duo of junior Victor Valente and freshman Matias Hatem took the No. 2-ranked doubles pair in the nation to the brink of defeat but couldn't finish off the upset. Valente and Hatem of Georgia State (4-2) took a 7-5 lead on Georgia Tech's Kevin King and Juan Spir in the pro set. After GSU fell in the other two doubles matches, King and Spir rallied to force the No. 1 doubles match into a seven-point tiebreaker for Tech (3-4).
In the tiebreaker, Valente and Hatem worked the match to a 3-3 tie and held the serve. After trading volleys, Spir ripped a forehand down the right side that clipped the net and lobbed the ball over a diving Hatem for the point. King and Spir finished off the match by winning the tiebreaker, 7-3.
Hatem recovered to take GSU's lone singles victory on the afternoon, a 7-5, 6-0 triumph over Georgia Tech's Dusan Miljevic at No. 4 singles. It was Hatem's fifth singles victory on the year, tying for the team best with senior Juan Pablo Gutierrez.
Gutierrez dropped his first singles match of the season, 6-2, 6-1, to Yellow Jackets senior Eduardo Segura.
Third-year head coach Chase Hodges leads the Panthers into its next match against Austin Peay on Feb. 19. GSU returns to the Peachtree City Tennis Center in Peachtree City, Ga., for the 11 a.m. match. Fans can follow the action with live stats and a live blog on www.GeorgiaStateSports.com.
Scores:
Singles
GT-Kevin King def. GSU-Victor Valente 6-1, 7-6 (7-3)
GT-Juan Spir def. GSU-Thomas Cook 6-3, 6-4
GT-Juan Melian def. GSU-Ismael Lahlou 6-1, 6-4
GSU-Matias Hatem def. GT-Dusan Miljevic 7-5, 6-0
GT-Eduardo Segura def. GSU-Juan Pablo Gutierrez 6-2, 6-1
GT-Sebastian Lopez def. GSU-Lucas Santana 7-5, 6-3
Doubles
GT-Kevin King/Juan Spir def. GSU-Victor Valente/Matias Hatem 8-8 (7-3)
GT-Juan Melian/Vitram Hundal def. GSU-Juan Pablo Gutierrez/Lucas Santana 8-3
GT-Eduardo Segura/Dusan Miljevic def. GSU-Thomas Cook/Michael Vallejo 8-4
www.GeorgiaStateSports.com
