Eagles Sweep Wildcats to Close Out Road Trip
“We played two tough opponents over the weekend and I was pleased to see the team take what they learned from those and put it to use today,” said head coach Justin Miles. “We are excited to end this road trip on a positive note and ready to open our home season at Hanner this weekend.”
GS opened play earning its first doubles point of the season winning two of three doubles matches to gain the early 1-0 lead. Gregory Bekkers (Antwerp, Belgium) and Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) cruised to an 8-1 decision over Wildcats Marc Vanja Misanovic and Jeffrey Smallwood. The Eagle duo recorded their first dual match win with the victory while Alain Garrido (Vigo, Spain) and Matthijs Verdam (Hilversum, The Netherlands) secured the doubles point for the Eagles with an 8-3 routing over Kip Jackson and Yannick Jackson.
Greg Streat and Cristian Cruz won the only Wildcat doubles match with an 8-6 decision over Justin Flynn (Dublin, Ireland) and Jayraj Jadeja (London, England) despite the Eagle pair overcoming a 3-0 deficit to tie the match at 3-all.
Senior Bekkers pushed Georgia Southern’s lead out to 2-0 dropping only one game en route to a 6-0, 6-1 crushing of Streat at the No. 3 seed. Garrido extended the Eagle advantage minutes later bypassing Jackson from the four seed, 6-3, 6-1, as senior Jadeja clinched the match for Georgia Southern at the two seed. The senior uprooted Emil Vassilev, 6-1, 6-3, and the Eagles stood at 4-0 with three singles matches still in progress.
Verdam finished next defeating Cruz, 6-1, 6-2, while Edio Castanhel, a Criciuma, Brazil native, came back from a first set loss to take the match in a super tiebreak. The sophomore fell 6-4 in the opening set to Jackson, but rebounded with a 6-2 second frame and closed out the win 10-7 in the super tiebreak.
Moving into the No. 1 singles position, Melian Puigventos continues to display a promising start to his freshman campaign as the Eagle edged Misanovic in straight sets. The Eagle battled through a tough match for a 6-4, 6-3 win to complete the match sweep for Georgia Southern.
After six straight matches on the road, the Eagles return to Statesboro to open the home schedule on Saturday, Feb. 13. First serve against Jacksonville University is slated for noon at the Hanner Tennis Complex.
Georgia Southern 7, Bethune-Cookman 0
Records: Georgia Southern 2-4, Bethune-Cookman 0-3
Doubles:
1. Gregory Bekkers/Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos (GSU) d. Marc Vanja Misanovic/Jeffrey Smallwood (BC) 8-1
2. Greg Streat/Cristain Cruz (BC) d. Justin Flynn/Jayraj Jadeja (GSU) 8-6
3. Alain Garrido/Matthijs Verdam (GSU) d. Kip Jackson/Yannick Jackson (BC) 8-3*
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles:
1. Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos (GSU) d. Marc Vanja Misanovic (BC) 6-4, 6-3
2. Jayraj Jadeja (GSU) d. Emil Vassilev (BC) 6-1, 6-3*
3. Gregory Bekkers (GSU) d. Greg Streat (BC) 6-0, 6-1
4. Alain Garrido (GSU) d. Yannick Jackson (BC) 6-3, 6-1
5. Matthijs Verdam (GSU) d. Cristian Cruz (BC) 6-1, 6-2
6. Edio Castanhel (GSU) d. Kip Jackson (BC) 4-6, 6-2, 10-7
Order of finish: 3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 1
*Clinched the match
- Category: Men's Tennis
- Published on Monday, 08 February 2010 17:15
