ATLANTA – The Virginia Tech men's tennis team rallied from down 0-3 to defeat Georgia Tech 4-3 on Thursday afternoon at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.
Virginia Tech's (11-6, 2-5 ACC) Jason Kros clinched the win for the Hokies in an exciting three-set match on court two as the teams were tied 3-3. Kros won the first set over Phillip Gresk in a back-and-forth tiebreak. With the two tied at 6-6, the Hokies' junior took the tiebreak 11-9. In the second set the two again went to a tiebreak, but Gresk won it 7-6(5). The final set was another close battle between the two with Kros and Gresk tied at 4-4 before Kros broke Gresk on serve. Kros won the final two games to secure the win for the team, 6-4.
Georgia Tech (5-11, 1-5 ACC) took the early 3-0 lead in the match after winning the doubles point and singles contests on courts three and six.
The Hokies first got on the board with a win from Henrik Korsgaard at the four where he downed Elijah Melendez 6-4, 7-5.
Mitch Harper, ranked 54th, closed the score to 2-3 with a win on court one. Harper won the opening set over 53rd-ranked Carlos Divar in a 7-6(6) tiebreak. Divar came back strong in the second set to win it 6-2, but Harper rallied for the final set to take it 6-3.
Freshman Carlo Donato tied it up with the Yellow Jackets as he defeated Andrew Li in the five. Donato won the first set 6-4, but gave up the second 3-6. He responded in the third to secure it 6-4.
The Hokies will be back on the court Saturday at Clemson for a 1 p.m. match in Anderson, S.C. at the AU Tennis Facility.
Singles
1. #54 Mitch Harper (VT) def. #53 Carlos Divar (GT) 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3
2. Jason Kros (VT) def. Phillip Gresk (GT) 7-6(9), 6-7(5), 6-4
3. Michael Kay (GT) def. Alex Ribeiro (VT) 6-4, 6-1
4. Henrik Korsgaard (VT) def. Elijah Melendez (GT) 6-4, 7-5
5. Carlo Donato (VT) def. Andrew Li (GT) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
6. Chris Yun (GT) def. Freddy Mesmer (VT) 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 3,6,4,1,5,2
Doubles
1. #11 Divar/Kay (GT) def. Korsgaard/Ribeiro (VT) 6-4
2. Melendez/Yun (GT) def. Donato/Harper (VT) 5-5 dnf
3. Gresk/Li (GT) def. Kros/Mesmer (VT) 6-1
Order of finish: 3,1