Tennis excels in ACC matches

The men ' s tennis team split a pair of matches over the weekend in ACC play. The team blanked Maryland 7-0 and fell to Florida State 5-2 during tough road matches in conference play.

The outcome of the Maryland match was never in doubt as Tech dominated the Terrapins. All team members put in strong performances en route to sealing the win without losing a single set in College Park.

Jose Luis Muguruza and George Gvelesiani earned wins for the Jackets in their match against Florida State in Tallahassee. Zachary Rath also took a set for the Jackets, but he was unable to secure a victory. In doubles action, David North and Marko Rajevac were able to earn a victory for the Jackets, but the team was unable to get the point, dropping the other two doubles contests.

The men play a home match today at 2:30 p.m. against N.C. State. Their final regular-season match is Sunday against UNC at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.

In women ' s action the Lady Jackets remained undefeated in the ACC by topping Florida State and Miami over the weekend. The Miami contest turned out to be a thriller.

In what Coach Bryan Shelton said was the most exhilarating match he has ever participated in or seen, the women ' s tennis team staged a momentous comeback with no room for error.

Tech was down 3-0 after Miami took the doubles point by winning two games to one and added to their lead with singles wins with victories in the No. 6 and No. 1 matches. Junior Kelly Anderson, sophomore Alison Silverio and junior Lyndsay Shosho won consecutive matches to knot the series up at three. Then, senior Dasha Potapova turned the tables in Tech ' s favor with a three-set victory in the No. 2 match against Staci Stevens 5-7, 6-0, 7-6.

Tech ' s lone win in the doubles series was the work of the duo of Anderson and freshman Whitney McCray, who won handily against the Lady Hurricanes ' Patricia Starzyk and Caren Seenauth. Miami would quickly come back to take the doubles point with close victories. Miami ' s No. 1 duo of Melissa Applebaum and Audrey Banada won their match, while the Lady Hurricanes ' other dominating duo of Megan Bradley and Stevens defeated Potapova and Shosho.

Miami won the first two singles matches. The first match to be completed saw the defeat of McCray at the hands of Banada 6-0, 6-3 at the No. 6 slot. Miami went up two games to none in the singles arena and pushed their overall lead to 3-0 when the nation ' s top-ranked singles player, Megan Bradley, defeated Kristi Miller, the No. 14 player in the country, 6-4, 6-2.

With no more room to lose, Tech began its momentous comeback, winning four straight matches to conclude the contest and win 4-3 against Miami. Perhaps the most amazing feat is that three of the four points came as upsets.

The first Tech point came with Shosho ' s upset at the No. 5 singles slot over No. 84 Emily Mowery 6-3, 6-3. Tech closed the gap 3-2 with Silverio ' s 6-4, 6-3 upset over No. 107 Starzyk in the No. 4 match. The game-tying win came as a result of the racket of Anderson, who upset No. 124 Applebaum 7-5, 6-4. Despite losing her first set and being down 4-3 in the final set, the lone senior on the team, Potapova, rallied to clinch the win for the Lady Jackets with the win over Stevens 5-7, 6-0, 7-6 (3). Tech now enters its final weekend of the regular season with tough conference matchups against No. 16 Duke and No. 13 North Carolina, both at home. They will square off with Duke Saturday at 12 p.m. and against UNC Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.