by T.J. Greggs
Box Score
ATLANTA - After fighting through a tough victory over the weekend at Austin Peay, the men's tennis team was unable to reproduce the same magic against a talented Georgia State squad today, falling to the Panthers, 7-0, at Piedmont Park.
The Owls (1-2) started strongly in the doubles and narrowly missed taking the doubles point, but were unable to muster a challenge in singles against the undefeated Panthers (2-0) in the first-ever meeting between the teams.
"That doubles point was really crucial," commented head coach T.J. Greggs. "I think if we're able to pull out the doubles win, the singles might have started off better for us, but all credit goes to Georgia State. They are simply a stronger team than us."
In the aforementioned doubles, the No. 1 team of Gianni Kubin and Tyler Mills were soundly defeated by Victor Valente and Calvin Kemp, 8-1. The other two doubles matches were neck and neck, with the No. 2 team of Michael Langel and Simon Janik scoring the early break and holding serve throughout the match for the 8-5 victory.
At No. 3 doubles, the first-time pairing of Justin Suesserman and Ryan Bouttell got off to a strong start and were up 5-4 and a break of serve. However, that was the last game the duo would muster, as several game points went by the wayside, and they fell, 8-5, to the freshmen duo of Lucas Santana and Juan Pablo Guttierez.
In the singles portion, Bouttell was the only player able to keep his match close, as he fell 7-5, 7-5 to Guttierez. The combined top five players were only able to nab 12 games from the home team.
"Most of the team fought hard today," added Greggs. "I am disappointed in a couple of the matches, but even in some of the matches that were lopsided, some of our players really fought hard."
The Owls will return to the court this weekend in Dayton, Ohio, where they will take on Wright State and the University of Dayton.
Georgia State 7, Kennesaw State 0
Feb 2, 2010 at Piedmont Park, Atlanta, Ga.
Doubles
No. 1 Victor Valente/Calvin Kemp (GSU) def. Tyler Mills/Gianni Kubin (KSU), 8-1
No. 2 Simon Janik/Michael Langel (KSU) def. Jackson Moore/Henri Mangin (GSU), 8-6
No. 3 Lucas Santana/Juan Pablo Gutierrez (GSU) def. Ryan Bouttell/Justin Suesserman (KSU), 8-5
Singles
No. 1 Victor Valente (GSU) def. Tyler Mills (KSU), 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 Jackson Moore (GSU) def. Gianni Kubin (KSU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 Calvin Kemp (GSU) def. Simon Janik (KSU), 6-3, 6-0
No. 4 Lucas Santana (GSU) def. Michael Langel (KSU), 6-2, 6-1
No. 5 Henri Mangin (GSU) def. Elliot Kahler (KSU), 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 Juan Pablo Gutierrez (GSU) def. Ryan Bouttell (KSU), 7-5, 7-5