Eagles Down Dolphins, 5-2

STATESBORO, Ga. – Tough singles play and a strong doubles outing helped the Georgia Southern men’s tennis team earn a hard fought win on Friday afternoon, as the Eagles defeated Jacksonville University at the Hanner Tennis Complex.

The Eagles defeated the dolphins 5-2 earning their second win of the season. It was the second time this season that the Eagles have avenged a 2007 loss. Earlier this season GSU defeated North Florida 5-2.

Georgia Southern (2-3, 0-0 SoCon) took an early advantage earning the doubles point taking two of the three doubles matches. Senior Emmanuel Nkoueleue (Douala, Cameroon) and Borja Malet (Barcelona, Spain) defeated Jacksonville’s tandem of Jordi Ballester and Francisco Riveroll by a score of 8-5. Joris De Weerdt (Mortsel, Belgium) and Gregory Bekkers (Antwerp, Belgium) teamed up and sealed the doubles point, downing Vinicius Craveiro and Marcos Oliveira 8-4.

“Overall I was happy with the way we played today,” said GSU head coach Justin Miles. “We need to get things going a little quicker. We started out slow in doubles, but we continued to compete and eventually picked up the pace.”

In singles action, the Eagles took four of six matches from Jacksonville. Nkoueleue earned his second victory of the match defeating Ballester 7-5, 6-0 from the No. 1 singles position. Bekkers and Malet both earned victories using three sets and long extended rallies. Bekkers defeated Victor Vaz 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 2 slot, while Malet took down Riveroll 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. De Weerdt added a victory for GSU at the No. 5 position upending Craveiro 6-0, 6-1.

The Eagles return to the hard-court (Feb. 17) when they play host to Mercer. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

Doubles:

1. Nkoueleue/Malet (GSU) d. Ballester/Riveroll (JU) 8-5
2. Vaz/Lopez (JU) d. Prins/Sands (GSU) 9-7
3. De Weerdt/G. Bekkers (GSU) d. Craveiro/Oliveira (JU) 8-4

 Singles:

1. Emmanuel Nkoueleue (GSU) d. Jordi Ballester (JU) 7-5, 6-0
2. Gregory Bekkers (GSU) d. Victor Vaz (JU) 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2
3. Borja Malet (GSU) d. Francisco Riveroll (JU) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
4. Marcos Oliveira (JU) d. Philip Prins (GSU) 7-6(6), 6-1
5. Joris De Weerdt (GSU) d. Vinny Craveiro (JU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Alberto Lopez (JU) d. Mark Paetz (GSU) 6-1, 7-5

Category: Men's Tennis

Published on Friday, 08 February 2008 00:27