No. 13 GCSU Upsets Top-Ranked AASU, 5-4

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. - No. 13 GCSU won two of three doubles matches, then split six singles matches to upset No. 1 Armstrong Atlantic State in Peach Belt Conference men's tennis action on Tuesday in Milledgeville.

The Pirates (7-1, 4-1 PBC) see their 38-match win streak come to a halt, while GCSU (5-1, 4-0 PBC) hands AASU its first regular season Peach Belt Conference loss since 2005.

GCSU got on the board quickly with an 8-3 win at No. 1 doubles as Erick Siqueira and Justin Pickam defeated Rafael Array and Tim Johannsen. The Pirates picked up a win at No. 2 singles with Mikk Irdoja and Paul Bishop defeating Francis Yoshimoto and Leo Benardez, 8-6. No. 3 doubles came down to a tiebreaker, which GCSU's Giovane Nucci and Max Beliankou won over Edualdo Bonet and Paul Fitzgerald, 9-8 (7).

In singles, Bonet continued his perfect dual match season with a 6-4, 7-5 win over No. 8 Siqueira at No. 1 singles. AASU also got singles wins at No. 5 with Array knocking off Benardez, 6-1, 6-0, and at No. 6 with Fitzgerald defeating Joao Casagrande, 6-2, 6-2.

But the Bobcats won at No. 2 singles with Pickham knocking off Bishop, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4, and at No. 3 singles with Yoshimoto beating Irdoja, 6-4, 6-4. That left it up to No. 4 singles, where Tim Johannsen fought off two match points in the second set, but eventually fell to Beliankou, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

The Pirates will try to begin a new win streak on Saturday, February 28, with a 1:00 p.m. Peach Belt Conference match at Lander in Greenwood, S.C.