Wilmington, N.C. - Georgia State junior Juan Pablo Gutierrez won a three-set match at No. 4 singles to complete a comeback victory for the Panthers over No. 63 UNC Wilmington, 4-3, Sunday at the UNCW courts. The Panthers won the final four matches to upset the CAA rival Seahawks.
Georgia State improves to 18-5 overall and 2-1 in conference after the victory. The Panthers snapped UNC Wilmington's eight-match winning streak and gave the Seahawks their first lost in nine matches at home this season.
"This is the best win for our program in my two years at GSU," said head coach Chase Hodges. "UNCW is tremendous at home and had won eight straight matches. We fell behind 3-0 and then had four guys step up and get key victories.
With the Panthers trailing 3-0 overall in the match, GSU rallied with four straight wins, capped by Gutierrez's 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, victory against Kosta Blank at No. 4 singles. Gutierrez improved to 14-6 in singles, including three straight wins.
"This will help our seeding in a big way for the CAA tournament next month," added Hodges. "Our guys continue to fight hard and I am extremely proud of them."
Georgia State lost the doubles point to fall behind 1-0 in the match. The Panthers picked up a victory at No. 3 doubles when Juan Pablo Gutierrez and Lucas Santana won 8-4 over Michael Pereira and Pedro Mol, but the host Seahawks won the other two for that point.
UNC Wilmington (12-3) increased its match lead to 2-0 after Kinshuk Sharma (UNCW) won in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, against freshman Thomas Cook at No. 2 singles.
The Seahawks pushed their lead to 3-0 overall when Illia Ziamtsou (UNCW) won in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, against sophomore Lucas Santana at No. 6 singles.
That meant GSU had to win all the rest to win the match.
Freshman Vincent Verpeaux started the rally for the Panthers after winning in straight sets 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, at No. 5 singles against Rafael Aita (UNCW). With the win, Verpeaux broke the school record for most dual-match wins in a season with a 20-3 record in singles.
Freshman Breon Badger made the match score 3-2 after winning in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, at No. 3 singles against Chris Cooprider (UNCW). Badger improved to 6-6 in singles and gave Cooprider his first loss at No. 3 singles this season.
Sophomore Victor Valente tied the match at 3-3 overall with a straight-set win at No. 1 singles 6-4, 6-3, against Michael Pereira (UNCW). Valente improved to 17-4 in singles and has won three straight matches.
The Panthers are two wins away from setting a new school record for most dual-match wins in a season.
Georgia State returns home for a double header at Piedmont Park against UAB on Friday at 12 p.m. and Morehouse at 6 p.m.
Check GeorgiaStateSports.com for all the match recaps and statistics of the 2011 men's tennis season.
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