GGC Athletics
Dale Long, Director of Sports Information
LAWRENCEVILLE – The Georgia Gwinnett College men’s tennis team recorded three victories against two different opponents on Saturday to extend its winning streak to 120 consecutive dual matches. The latest triumphs came on the opening day of the Grizzly Spring Break Invitational at the GGC Tennis Facility.
The Grizzlies (11-0) defeated No. 24-ranked Cumberland University (Tenn.) 7-0 before picking up a pair of 7-0 sweeps against NCAA Division III Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Ind.).
The top-ranked Grizzlies won 18 of 20 games in doubles to grab the early momentum during the morning match. The tandem of junior Valentino Caratini and freshman Max Bertimon gave GGC the 1-0 advantage with a 6-1 win on the No. 2 court. Senior Federico Herrera Duran and junior Federico Bonacia captured the first doubles win on the No. 1 court by winning all six games. Senior Gregor Hutterer and sophomore Daniel Czepielewski rounded out the winners with a 6-1 triumph at No. 3 doubles.
GGC earned straight-set wins in all six singles matches to complete the dual match sweep. Victories came from Bertimon, with 6-1, 6-1 set scores on the No. 1 court; sophomore Jose Dugo, with identical 6-3 set scores at No. 2; freshman Alex Gurmendi, who won 12 of 13 games on the No. 3; senior Mika Kosonen, with a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 4; Hutterer, with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 5; and senior Sergio Valinotti, who won all of his 12 games at No. 6 singles.
Against Rose-Hulman, the Grizzlies quickly took the doubles point with wins on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts. The Hutterer-Czepielewski team clinched the point with a 6-2 victory at No. 3 doubles. The Caratini-Bertimon registered their second win of the day by winning six of seven games on the No. 2 court. Dugo and Gurmendi won the last three games at No. 1 doubles to pick up a 6-4 triumph.
Caratini clinched the team’s fourth point of the match with a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles. That followed straight-set wins by Kosonen and Valinotti on the No. 3 and No. 6 courts, respectively.
Bertimon rallied from a 7-4 deficit in a third-set tiebreaker to defeat Ian Landwehr. Bertimon won the opening set 6-1, but dropped a tiebreaker in the second set.
Dugo earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles and Herrera Duran won by identical 6-2 set scores on the No. 4 court.
The Grizzlies won all six singles matches in straight sets in the second contest with Rose-Hulman. Kosonen earned his third singles win of the day with a 6-2, 6-1 victory on the No. 3 court. Valinotti also completed an undefeated singles record on Saturday by winning 12 of the 13 games on the No. 5 court. Gurmendi won by identical 6-1 set scores at No. 2 singles.
Czepielewski recorded a 6-4, 6-3 win on the No. 6 court, while Herrera Duran picked up a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 4 singles. Bonacia earned a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 1 for the team’s seventh point of the match.
GGC swept all three doubles matches with the tandem of Caratini and Valinotti clinching the point with a 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles.
“A tripleheader is a daunting challenge for any team, but our guys handled it well with three straight 7-0 wins. All 10 guys got involved today as our depth truly showed. We now look forward to getting some rest in preparation for some upcoming matches,” head coach Chase Hodges said.
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to play William Woods University (Mo.) on Wednesday, March 4, at 10 a.m. to conclude play in the Grizzly Spring Break Invitational at the GGC Tennis Facility.