Beating No. 64 Georgia State two weeks ago in Los Angeles was tough enough for the Shockers to grind out a 4-3 win in January. Just to prove it wasn’t luck, WSU went to Georgia State’s home courts and won again, but this time 4-1.

WSU, now ranked No. 61 in the ITA National Rankings, was led by their three Croatian players, Ilija Cuic, Tomislav Gregurovic and Tin Ostojic.

Ostojic/Gregurovic started off with a 6-4 win in doubles play against Oklahoma State. The doubles point was later clinched by Guillermo Nicol/Guillermo de Vilchez to give WSU an early 1-0 match lead.

GSU tied the match at 1 point when Jannis Koeko (GSU) defeated Nicol (WSU) 6-1, 6-3. This would be Georgia State’s only match point.

Ostojic was victorious over Robert Schilze 6-2, 6-4. Gregurovic overpowered Felipe Jaworski 6-5 (7-3), 6-1.

“After beating them the first time we played with more confidence this time around,” Ostojic said. “We kept things simple.”

Cuic, at the one position, was in position to once again clinch a WSU victory over GSU and he did so once again in a three-set thriller. Cuic won by a score of 3-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-5.

“It felt great; we really needed this win against a very solid Georgia State team,” Cuic said, “I was lucky to be able to clinch it after being down two match points. We knew it was not going to be easy, especially having the rematch at their home.”

On Sunday, WSU played No. 67 East Tennessee State. The ETSU freshmen-laden squad has played eight of its 10 matches this season against ranked opponents and had learned a thing or two during their matches.

WSU dropped the doubles point when Gregurovic/Otojic lost 6-4 and Nicol/de Vilchez loss by the same score.

The only singles match the Shockers won came from Gregurovic, who won in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. Cuic, Nicol and Jocelyn Devilliers all lost to their opponents and WSU lost the match 4-1.

In WSU’s first six matches of the season, they played against two top 10 programs and a total of five ranked opponents. They begin an eight-match home stand starting with Oklahoma State on Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. at Genesis Health Club.