February 28, 1999

ATLANTA - Seniors Benjamin Cassaigne and Matt Cozad won in both singles and doubles to help Georgia Tech s men's tennis team edge Middle Tennessee State, 4-3, Sunday.

The win, coupled with Saturday s weather-shortened 4-1 victory over Troy State in Nashville, moves Tech to 6-1 on the season, matching the Yellow Jackets' best start since 1965. Tech s 1965 team opened the year 11-1.

"This was an extremely tough match," Tech head coach Kenny Thorne said of Sunday's win against the Blue Raiders. "We played in extremely cold and windy conditions. We had to battle not only the weather but a tough Middle Tennessee State team. It was nice to see us stay focused and fight throughout the match."

Tech opened the match by winning the doubles point as Cassaigne and Tim Bibby won at No. 1 and Cozad and Sergio Aguirre won at No. 3. The Jackets and Blue Raiders then split the six singles matches with Cassaigne, Cozad and Robert Wright winning for Tech.

The win came just one day after Tech downed Troy State, 4-1, in an abbreviated match. The match was originally scheduled for Murfreesboro but was moved to Nashville on the campus of Vanderbilt due to inclement weather.

Tech and Troy State played just five singles matches with Cassaigne, Cozad, Romain Coirault and Aguirre posting victories.

No. 50 Georgia Tech 4, Middle Tennessee State 3

Singles
1. Benjamin Cassaigne (GT) def. Matt Walker (MTSU), 7-5, 6-4
2. Matt Cozad (GT) def. Oliver Foreman (MTSU), 6-2, 6-4
3. Robert Gustafsson (MTSU) def. Romain Coirault (GT) 6-3, 7-6 (8)
4. Robert Wright (GT) def. Shayne Podbury (MTSU), 5-7, 6-2, 6-3
5. Mehdi Belbacha (MTSU) def. Jason Jeong (GT), 6-1, 6-2
6. Olle Nystrom (MTSU) def. Sergio Aguirre (GT), 7-6 (4), 6-2
Doubles
1. Benjamin Cassaigne/Tim Bibby (GT) def. Matt Walker/Olle Nystrom (MTSU), 8-6
2. Mehdi Belbacha/Mark Pellerin (MTSU) def. Romain Coirault/Robert Wright (GT), 8-2
3. Matt Cozad/Sergio Aguirre (GT) def. Shayne Podbury/Oliver Foreman, 8-4

No. 50 Georgia Tech 4, Troy State 1
Singles
1. Benjamin Cassaigne (GT) def. Willy Campos (TSU), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (3)
2. Matt Cozad (GT) def. Shannon Nettle (TSU), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)
3. Romain Coirault (GT) def. Per Henning (TSU), 6-0, 6-0
4. Sergio Aguirre (GT) def. Aman Gill (TSU), 7-5, 7-6 (5)
5. Jody Kane (TSU) def. Robert Wright (GT), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8)
6. Gordon Hwang (GT) vs. Dejan Nikolic (TSU), DNF

Doubles
Not Contested