Eagles Fall To Spartans, 6-1

ATLANTA, GA. – The Georgia Southern men’s tennis team fell, 6-1, Saturday afternoon to USC Upstate at the Bill Moore Tennis Center in Atlanta, Ga. The Eagles fall to 1-2 on the season, while the Spartans improved to 1-1.

USC Upstate clinched the doubles point with victories at the two and three seeds. The Eagle duo of Emmanuel Nkoueleue and Borja Malet remained undefeated on the season with an 8-5 defeat over Sandy Franz and Renzo Airaldi at the one spot.

Malet, Gregory Bekkers and Mark Paetz each went into three sets against their opponents in singles action. Malet and Bekkers each took first sets from Airaldi and Javier Tori, 6-4, but fell in the following two sets at the two and three seeds, respectively. Paetz drew his match into a third set after falling in the first and taking the second. Paetz eventually fell to Sebastian Gonzales-Orbegoso in a third set tiebreak, 7-6 (7-5).

An upset triumph came from Nkoueleue at the one seed in singles action. Senior Nkoueleue ousted No. 96 Sandy Franz in straight 6-3 sets to provide the Eagles with their lone singles victory of the match. Duoala, Cameroon native, Nkoueleue held his perfect record for the start of the season, standing at 3-0 from the one spot.

“We had a slow start in doubles,” said head coach Justin Miles. “We had some opportunities in singles to change the tide of the match, but we didn’t capitalize on these opportunities. If we took care of those opportunities, the outcome of the match could have changed.”

Georgia Southern continues weekend action Sunday at 2 p.m. with a match-up against Georgia Tech. The two teams will face off for the 26th time in school history; the Jackets hold the advantage with a 16-9 record.

USC Upstate 6, Georgia Southern 1

Doubles:

1. Emmanuel Nkoueleue/Borja Malet (GS) d. Sandy Franz/Renzo Airaldi (UPST) 8-5

2. Sebastian Gonzales-Orbegoso/Leandro Osorio (UPST) d. Gregory Bekkers/Mark Paetz (GS) 8-1

3. Javier Tori/Jack Roux (UPST) d. Philip Prins/Matthew Sands (GS) 8-5

Singles:

1. Emmanuel Nkoueleue (GS) d. No. 96 Sandy Franz (UPST) 6-3, 6-3

2. Renzo Airaldi (UPST) d. Borja Malet (GS) 3-6, 6-2, 6-0

3. Javier Tori (UPST) d. Gregory Bekkers (GS) 4-6, 6-2, 6-0

4. Jack Roux (UPST) d. Philip Prins (GS) 6-4, 6-1

5. Sebastian Gonzales-Orbegoso (UPST) d. Mark Paetz (GS) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5)

Category: Men's Tennis

Published on Saturday, 02 February 2008 00:11