Eagles Look to Conclude Regular Season with Momentum
4/13/2011 8:32:00 PM | Men's Tennis
STATESBORO, Ga - The Georgia Southern Men's Tennis team (9-11, 2-6 SoCon) concludes its regular season with a two-match homestand this weekend. The Eagles compete against College of Charleston (14-5, 8-1 SoCon) Thursday, April 14th, at 2:30 p.m. before playing host to Chattanooga (7-14, 2-7 SoCon) Saturday, April 16th, at noon.
"We've played some of our best tennis at home this year, so we are fortunate to finish our last two SoCon matches at home before the tournament," said Head Coach Nick Zieziula. "We have a big home court advantage with our courts and our fans. If we can battle like we have all year, we are going to put ourselves in a position to be successful."
Georgia Southern has won two of the last three meetings against both teams. The Eagles lead Charleston 27-14 in the all-time series. The Cougars took the win last year 5-2, marking the Eagle program's first loss to Charleston since 2007. Chattanooga leads 14-12 in the all-time series, but has not found the win column against the Eagles since 2008. Last year, Georgia Southern captured the doubles point and four singles matches en route to a 5-2 victory over the Mocs at Hanner Tennis Complex.
Georgia Southern will honor seniors Thomas Bekkers (Antwerp, Belgium), Mark Paetz (Munich, Germany) and Alex Yuille (Epsom, England) for their contributions to the program prior to the start of Saturday's match against Chattanooga.
Juan Melian Puigventos (Las Palmas De Las Canaria, Spain), Southern Conference Player of the Month for March, paces the Eagles and the Southern Conference with a 19-1 record at No. 1 singles. Melian Puigventos is currently riding a 13-match winning streak at the top of the lineup that includes a perfect 8-0 mark in league play.
College of Charleston comes into Thursday's match on a five-match winning streak. Mickael Trintignac guides the Cougars with a 16-3 record at No. 2 singles. The pair of Tom Delme and Stephen Hardy, playing at all three seeds this season, is 13-6. Chattanooga brings a seven-match losing streak to Statesboro.
After the conclusion of the regular season on Saturday, April 16th, Georgia Southern will have a few days off from competition before traveling to the 2011 Southern Conference Championships. The 2011 SoCon Championships take place April 20th-23rd at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn.
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.
