Eagles Split Two in Florida, Capture First Win of the Season
1/24/2010 12:29:00 AM | Men's Tennis
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Georgia Southern split a double-header in Florida falling to the 13th-ranked Florida State Seminoles in the morning, but rebounded with a 6-1 win over Florida Gulf Coast in the afternoon (January 23). The Eagles dropped the opening doubles point, but swept the singles matches for the 6-1 win over FGCU. Georgia Southern improved to 1-2 on the year with the win.
Georgia Southern opened the day's play facing off against No. 13 Florida State, falling 6-0. Due to the number of matches scheduled on the day, only singles were played in the morning matches. The Seminoles took a 2-0 lead dropping only seven games in two matches at the six and three seeds. A straight set victory from the top seed put Florida State within one point of clinching the match as Connor Smith handled Gregory Bekkers (Antwerp, Belgium) at the four seed, 6-4, 6-1, to seal the win.
In the afternoon match, Georgia Southern challenged Florida Gulf Coast, rebounding from a doubles point deficit to sweep the singles for a 6-1 win. FGCU took two of three doubles matches to gain the early match lead, 1-0, but Georgia Southern raged back with wins at all singles seeds for the victory.
Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) quickly tied the match at 1-all with a crushing of Matthew Rock, 6-1, 6-0, from the two seed. Recording his first dual match win of the season, Alain Garrido (Vigo, Spain) handled Steve Binniger, dropping only three games for a straight set victory, 6-1, 6-2, at the four seed.
Jayraj Jadeja (London, England) pushed the Eagles to the brink of victory with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Thibaud Aime from the top seed and sophomore Edio Castanhel (Criciuma, Brazil) followed in common suit with a straight set win to clinch the match. Castanhel cruised to a 6-1 first set win over Gabriel Echeverry at the six seed and sealed the comeback win for Georgia Southern with a 6-3 second set win. Matthijs Verdam (Hilversum, The Netherlands) and Bekkers closed out the match with wins from the four and three seeds, respectively, to complete the sweep of singles action.
“I'm very proud of the team for fighting back and recovering from doubles play in the second match,” said head coach Justin Miles. “We didn't play the best doubles we could have, and we know we need to work on that aspect of our game, but we kept our heads held high and came out strong for singles action to get the win.”
The Eagles return to the court on Sunday, January 24 at Florida A&M. First serve is slated for 11 a.m.
No. 13 Florida State 6, Georgia Southern 0
Singles:
1. No. 111 Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU) d. Jayraj Jadeja (GSU) 6-1,6-2
2. No. 27 Jean-Yves Aubone (FSU) d. Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos (GSU) 6-0, 6-2
3. No. 23 Clint Bowles (FSU) d. Justin Flynn (GSU) 6-0, 6-3
4. Connor Smith (FSU) d. Gregory Bekkers (GSU) 6-4, 6-1*
5. Andres Bucaro (FSU) d. Matthijs Verdam (GSU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Anderson Reed (FSU) d. Alain Garrido (GSU) 6-4, 6-0
Singles order of finish: 6, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5
*Clinched the match
Georgia Southern 6, Florida Gulf Coast 1
Doubles
1) Aime/Rock (FGCU) def. Jadeja/Flynn (GSU) 8-4
2) Leitz/Lvovsky (FGCU) def. Bekkers/Verdam (GSU) 8-5*
3) Garrido/Melian Puigventos (GSU) def. Binninger/Brown (FGCU) 8-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1) Jayraj Jadeja (GSU) def. Thibaud Aime (FGCU) 6-3, 6-2
2) Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos (GSU) def. Matthew Rock (FGCU) 6-1, 6-0
3) Gregory Bekkers (GSU) def. Sebastian Leitz (FGCU) 6-4, 7-5
4) Matthijs Verdam (GSU) def. Mitchell Lvovsky (FGCU) 6-4, 6-1
5) Alain Garrido (GSU) def. Steve Binninger (FGCU) 6-1, 6-2
6) Edio Castanhel (GSU) def. Gabriel Echeverry (FGCU) 6-1, 6-3*
Order of finish: 2, 5, 1, 6, 4, 3
*Clinched the match
Georgia Southern opened the day's play facing off against No. 13 Florida State, falling 6-0. Due to the number of matches scheduled on the day, only singles were played in the morning matches. The Seminoles took a 2-0 lead dropping only seven games in two matches at the six and three seeds. A straight set victory from the top seed put Florida State within one point of clinching the match as Connor Smith handled Gregory Bekkers (Antwerp, Belgium) at the four seed, 6-4, 6-1, to seal the win.
In the afternoon match, Georgia Southern challenged Florida Gulf Coast, rebounding from a doubles point deficit to sweep the singles for a 6-1 win. FGCU took two of three doubles matches to gain the early match lead, 1-0, but Georgia Southern raged back with wins at all singles seeds for the victory.
Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) quickly tied the match at 1-all with a crushing of Matthew Rock, 6-1, 6-0, from the two seed. Recording his first dual match win of the season, Alain Garrido (Vigo, Spain) handled Steve Binniger, dropping only three games for a straight set victory, 6-1, 6-2, at the four seed.
Jayraj Jadeja (London, England) pushed the Eagles to the brink of victory with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Thibaud Aime from the top seed and sophomore Edio Castanhel (Criciuma, Brazil) followed in common suit with a straight set win to clinch the match. Castanhel cruised to a 6-1 first set win over Gabriel Echeverry at the six seed and sealed the comeback win for Georgia Southern with a 6-3 second set win. Matthijs Verdam (Hilversum, The Netherlands) and Bekkers closed out the match with wins from the four and three seeds, respectively, to complete the sweep of singles action.
“I'm very proud of the team for fighting back and recovering from doubles play in the second match,” said head coach Justin Miles. “We didn't play the best doubles we could have, and we know we need to work on that aspect of our game, but we kept our heads held high and came out strong for singles action to get the win.”
The Eagles return to the court on Sunday, January 24 at Florida A&M. First serve is slated for 11 a.m.
No. 13 Florida State 6, Georgia Southern 0
Singles:
1. No. 111 Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU) d. Jayraj Jadeja (GSU) 6-1,6-2
2. No. 27 Jean-Yves Aubone (FSU) d. Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos (GSU) 6-0, 6-2
3. No. 23 Clint Bowles (FSU) d. Justin Flynn (GSU) 6-0, 6-3
4. Connor Smith (FSU) d. Gregory Bekkers (GSU) 6-4, 6-1*
5. Andres Bucaro (FSU) d. Matthijs Verdam (GSU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Anderson Reed (FSU) d. Alain Garrido (GSU) 6-4, 6-0
Singles order of finish: 6, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5
*Clinched the match
Georgia Southern 6, Florida Gulf Coast 1
Doubles
1) Aime/Rock (FGCU) def. Jadeja/Flynn (GSU) 8-4
2) Leitz/Lvovsky (FGCU) def. Bekkers/Verdam (GSU) 8-5*
3) Garrido/Melian Puigventos (GSU) def. Binninger/Brown (FGCU) 8-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1) Jayraj Jadeja (GSU) def. Thibaud Aime (FGCU) 6-3, 6-2
2) Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos (GSU) def. Matthew Rock (FGCU) 6-1, 6-0
3) Gregory Bekkers (GSU) def. Sebastian Leitz (FGCU) 6-4, 7-5
4) Matthijs Verdam (GSU) def. Mitchell Lvovsky (FGCU) 6-4, 6-1
5) Alain Garrido (GSU) def. Steve Binninger (FGCU) 6-1, 6-2
6) Edio Castanhel (GSU) def. Gabriel Echeverry (FGCU) 6-1, 6-3*
Order of finish: 2, 5, 1, 6, 4, 3
*Clinched the match
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