North Carolina
Georgia Tech
Tar Heels Fall In Season Finale To Georgia Tech
April 17, 2005 | Men's Tennis
April 17, 2005
ATLANTA, GA. - No. 45 North Carolina and No. 35 Georgia Tech staged a battle for over five hours on Sunday afternoon in men's tennis with the Yellow Jackets prevailing in a razor close match 4-3. The match closed the regular season for both teams.
The match was as close as the final score would indicate as Tech claimed the doubles point by winning a tiebreaker at the No. 1 flight to go ahead 1-0 in the match. UNC won the No. 2 doubles match and the Yellow Jackets won at No. 3 doubles. The point then came down to the No. 1 spot where Tech barely edged the Heels, 9-8. Marko Rajevac and David North of Georgia Tech defeated UNC's Brad Pomeroy and Geoff Boyd 7-2 in the decisive tiebreaker.
That forced UNC into a position where the Tar Heels would need to win four of six singles matches to pull out the match and only once this season has UNC been able to rally from losing the doubles point to win the match.
For a while things looked promising for Carolina as the Tar Heels claimed in first set in four of the six singles matches but Tech would not be denied on its Senior Day as the Jackets eventually persevered and won three singles matches to claim the match.
After Rajevac defeated UNC's Boyd in straight sets at No. 3 singles, UNC claimed the next three points. Derek Porter won in straight sets at the No. 4 spot, rallying from 5-2 down in the second set to win a tiebreaker. That win was followed by a victory by Raian Luchici at No. 2 and by Sebastian Guejman in three sets at No. 6.
Tech held firm, however, as Zachary Rath scored a come-from-behind win at the No. 4 spot over UNC's Jonathan Janda, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The match was decided at No. 1 where Jose Luis Muguruza, the No. 24 singles player in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, outlasted Carolina's Pomeroy 7-6, 2-6, 6-3. Pomeroy led the final set 3-2 and was up while serving in the sixth game when he began to cramp. Muguruza took control of the match with a passing shot that hit the line to save game point and he went on to win the final four games in a row to win the match.
The decision improved Georgia Tech to 5-5 in the ACC while Carolina finishes at 4-6 in the ACC this year. Both teams will find out their ACC Tournament seeding on Monday when the pairings are announced by the ACC Office in Greensboro, N.C. The Tournament runs from next Thursday through Sunday at the Cary Tennis Center in Cary, N.C. The top five seeds will receive byes on Thursday. There will be three first-round matches on Thursday with the No. 6 seed playing the No. 11 seed, the No. 7 seed playing the No. 10 seed and the No. 8 seed meeting the No. 9 seed. Those winners will advance to play in the quarterfinals on Friday. Virginia is the defending champion.
#35 Georgia Tech 4, #45 North Carolina 3
Singles competition:
1. #24 Jose Luis Muguruza (GT) def. Brad Pomeroy (UNC) 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-3
2. #72 Raian Luchici (UNC) def. David North (GT) 6-2, 6-4
3. Marko Rajevac (GT) def. Geoff Boyd (UNC) 6-3, 7-6
4. Zachary Rath (GT) def. Jonathan Janda (UNC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Derek Porter (UNC) def. Jordan Delass (GT) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Sebastian Guejman (UNC) def. George Gvelesiani (GT) 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. #52 Marko Rajevac/David North (GT) def. #41 Geoff Boyd/Brad Pomeroy (UNC) 9-8 (7-2)
2. Jonathan Janda/Raian Luchici (UNC) def. Jose Luis Muguruza/Sukhwa Young (GT) 8-3
3. Scott Blackmon/Zachary Rath (GT) def. Derek Porter/Sebastian Guejman (UNC) 8-2
North Carolina 14-9, 4-6 ACC; National ranking #45
Georgia Tech 13-8, 5-5 ACC; National ranking #35
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,5,2,6,4,1)
Players Mentioned
