FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason University men's tennis team converted on a number of clutch points during a 4-3 victory over cross-Potomac foe Georgetown on Thursday afternoon inside the Mason Tennis Complex.
 
The Patriots dropped the doubles point, but captured four of the next five singles matches to pick up the big victory over a local power. Freshman Jakob Nielsen clinched the match at No. 3 singles.
 
"The guys came out with way more energy today and that's what helped Jakob close out that tight third set to clinch," head coach Jimmy Davis said. "Everyone put up a great fight and fought hard on the big points. This was a great team win and will give us momentum heading into a weekend with two A-10 matches. I'm very happy we were able to pull this out against a very good Georgetown team."
 
Georgetown won at No. 2 doubles to open the match, but the first doubles duo of Daniel Gutierrez and Pally Ray evened the score with a 6-3 victory for Mason. Andrew Curtis and Edward Ayers battled until the end at No. 3, but the Hoyas won 7-5 to claim the doubles point.
 
Gutierrez and Curtis made quick work of their opponents to give Mason a push in singles action and a 2-1 lead overall in the match. Curtis won 6-3, 6-2, to grab Mason's first win at No. 6 singles, then Gutierrez followed that up with a straight sets victory at No. 5 (6-3, 6-3).
 
Leading 5-4 in the opening set, Ray broke his opponent at No. 2 singles to take the opening set, 6-4. He then cruised to a 6-1 victory in the second frame to give Mason a 3-1 advantage.
 
Senior James Lange went three sets in his match at No. 1 singles – including a nice 7-6 tiebreak win in the second set – but his Georgetown opponent came out on top to pull the Hoyas within one (3-2).
 
But Nielsen stepped up big at No. 3 singles. After opening his match with a 6-3 win in the first set, he dropped a 6-7 tiebreak decision in the second. The match, which featured a number of service breaks on both sides of the net, again went to a tiebreak in the third. But this time, Nielsen took control in the tiebreaker points and wrapped up the win to give Mason the fourth and deciding point in the match.
 
The Patriots will look to ride this momentum into a pair of conference matchups this weekend in Philadelphia. Mason plays at La Salle Saturday (1 p.m.) and battles Saint Joseph's on Sunday (10 a.m.).
 
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