Strong Doubles Session Not Enough for Flames in Loss at No. 17 Georgia Tech

Despite a victorious doubles session for the Liberty Flames men's tennis team against No. 17 Georgia Tech, the Flames fell, 6-1, to the Yellow Jackets, Sunday evening at Ken Byers Tennis Complex.

Liberty drops to 7-10 overall with the setback, while No. 17 Georgia Tech boosts its record to 11-3 on the year.

The Flames' top two doubles tandems won their matches, and their No. 3 led a match that went unfinished. Liberty's No. 1 team of Alex Poynter and Diego Castano defeated Georgia Tech's Christopher Eubanks and Daniel Yun, 6-3, for their team-best 10th doubles triumph of the 2016-17 season.

Castano and Poynter scored a doubles victory over No. 17 Georgia Tech, Sunday evening.

Flames sophomore Eddie Gutierrez and freshman Vince Salas also picked up a victory, defeating Michael Kay and Chris Yun, 6-4, on court two. The win gave Liberty a 1-0 lead, heading into singles action.

Liberty's No. 3 pairing of Chase Burton and Max Borcuti led Elijah Melendez and Phillip Gresk, 4-3, prior to Gutierrez and Salas' double-point clinching win.

The Yellow Jackets proved their mettle in singles competition, starting with Eubanks, who is ranked No. 9 in the country, in his No. 1 match with Salas (6-2, 6-2). Eubanks' victory evened the match at 1-1, while Cole Fiegel's two-set win over Castano (6-1, 6-2) provided the home side a lead (2-1) they would never relinquish.

On court six, Chris Yun delivered a 6-3, 6-0 victory over the Flames' Ryker Heller, pushing the home team's lead to 3-1. In the No. 5 match between Daniel Yun and Borcuti, Yun needed a pair of sets (6-3, 6-1) to top Borcuti and clinch the overall match. Daniel Yun's win gave Georgia Tech a 4-1 cushion.

The final two matches of the day on courts two and three also went to the Yellow Jackets. On court three, Gutierrez provided a stern challenge for Carlos Benito, but it wasn't enough to take down the Georgia Tech senior. Benito's 7-5, 6-2 victory pushed the home lead up to 5-1.

Burton also proved to be a formidable opponent to the Yellow Jackets' No. 102 Andrew Li. Burton fell in a first-set tiebreaker to Li and narrowly in the second set, losing 7-6 (2), 6-4.

After seven straight matches away from Lynchburg, the Flames (7-10, 0-3 Big South) will return to their home courts seeking their first Big South win. Liberty will take on the Presbyterian Blue Hose (10-9, 2-0 Big South) on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Cook Tennis Center.