Terps Get Stung By Yellow Jackets, Lose 5-2
April 3, 2009
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland men's tennis team played in yet another tight ACC match but came out on the losing end again, falling to No. 46 Georgia Tech, 5-2.
The Terps (7-10, 1-7) started strong, taking the doubles point in a series of highly competitive matches, two of which required tie-breakers.
But the Yellow Jackets (8-9, 3-5) rebounded well, taking five of the six singles matches.
Maryland's number one doubles team of Andrew Orban and Boris Fetbroyt came through in a gritty performance against the No. 42-ranked doubles team of Guillermo Gomez and Ryan Smith.
The Terrapin duo found themselves down a break at 5-2, and down love-40 with Orban serving. Maryland battled back to hold serve on deuce, then after a Georgia Tech hold of serve, Fetbroyt held serve, then hit a winner to break Tech and Orban held his serve again to bring things even at 6-6.
The teams traded games until a score of 8-8 and a tie-break were reached, and the Terps controlled the decisive race to seven, taking the match, 9-8 (7-4).
At the same time Orban and Fetbroyt were in their tie-break, the number three doubles team of Nickolai Nielsen and Mathias Sarrazin was in a tie-break of its own.
Playing against Tech's Eliot Potvin and Austin Roebuck, Nielsen and Sarrazin were up a break most of the match. But the Yellow Jackets rallied in a fashion similar to the one seen at number one doubles, coming back from a 7-4 hole to force the tie-break.
The breaker was as long as it was competitive, but Nielsen forced an error to secure the doubles point in dramatic fashion as the Terps took the match, 9-8 (10-8).
With the doubles point under their belt the Terps looked to singles play to win the match, but Georgia Tech had other ideas. The Jackets took the first three singles decisions in straight sets, leaving them one match win shy of a victory.
With a team victory three match wins away, the Terps had three highly competitive matches left on the courts, all of which needed three sets to be decided. But unfortunately for the Terps, only one of those matches resulted in a win.
Senior Nickolai Nielsen earned his second victory of the day in a three set match against Potvin. After a long first set that went Potvin's way, Nielsen jumped out to leads of 4-1, and 4-0 in the next two sets on his way to an impressive 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.
The Terps will be back in action Sunday when they play host to No. 68 Clemson on senior day. Maryland is looking to defeat Clemson for the second consecutive year, this time in the last home match in the careers of seniors Boris Fetbroyt, Nickolai Nielsen and Andrew Orban. The match will begin at 11 a.m. at the Tennis Center at College Park.
Results
#46 Georgia Tech 5, Maryland 2
Singles competition
1. #16 Guillermo Gomez (GT) def. Andrew Orban (MD) 6-3, 6-0
2. Miguel Muguruza (GT) def. David Kwon (MD) 6-1, 5-7, 6-1
3. Nickolai Nielsen (MD) def. Eliot Potvin (GT) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. Kevin Kring (GT) def. Mathias Sarrazin (MD) 6-1, 6-3
5. Ryan Smith (GT) def. Boris Fetbroyt (MD) 6-3, 6-3
6. Austin Roebuck (GT) def. Alex Aksanov (MD) 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Andrew Orban/Boris Fetbroyt (MD) def. #42 Guillermo Gomez/Ryan Smith (GT) 9-8 (7-4)
2. Doug Kenny/Kevin Kring (GT) def. David Kwon/Roshan Potarazu (MD) 8-6
3. Nickolai Nielsen/Mathias Sarrazin (MD) def. Austin Roebuck/Eliot Potvin (GT) 9-8 (10-8)
Match Notes:
Georgia Tech 8-9 (3-5); National ranking #46
Maryland 7-10 (1-7)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,4,5,2,3,6)
