Men?s Tennis Begins Conference Play This Week
3/8/2011 2:03:00 AM | Men's Tennis
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Tennis (4-5) has the home court advantage this week for its first Southern Conference match as the Eagles go up against Furman (1-10) Tuesday, March 8th at 1:30 p.m at Hanner Tennis Complex. Georgia Southern steps out of conference play on Wednesday, March 9th as Florida Gulf Coast (0-6) visits Hanner Tennis Complex. The Eagles did not compete for the last eight days, but are ready to begin the next part of their season.
"We had a nice break last week, which has given us a few extra days to work on some areas of our game," said Head Coach Nick Zieziula. "We're excited to get back out and compete on our home courts. With six of our next seven matches at home, we hope to get some momentum going."
Sophomores Matthijs Verdam (Hilversum, The Netherlands) and Juan Melian Puigventos (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) were both successful in their singles play last weekend against Mercer and Florida A&M. Both scored points for the Eagles against the Bears and Rattlers while they combined for the doubles victory against the Bears. Puigventos is now 8-1 for singles play on the year while Verdam's record grew to 6-3.
Furman has notched two wins over the Eagles in the past three seasons. The 2010 match was lost in a rainout after Georgia Southern posted the doubles point and was ahead 1-0.
The Paladins earned their first victory and conference win of the season against The Citadel last Saturday. To start the season, Furman faced six nationally ranked teams including three from the Southeastern Conference: No. 9 Florida, No.11 Georgia and No. 33 Alabama. Florida State (27), Nebraska (42) and Clemson (51) also took wins over the Paladins.
GSU holds a 1-0 record over Florida Gulf Coast with a comeback victory after rebounding from a doubles point deficit to sweep the singles for a 6-1 win. FGCU is 1-7 so far in 2011, with losses to common opponents Stetson and Florida A&M. FGCU sailed past Southern Illinois Edwardsville, 6-1, in its last match.
For more information on Georgia Southern Men's Tennis, follow the Eagles at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/mtennis or receive short updates at twitter.com/GSAthletics or facebook.com/GSAthletics.
