Men's Tennis Ends Non-Conference Slate with Loss
3/11/2012 6:49:00 PM | Men's Tennis
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Georgia Southern Men’s Tennis team completed their non-conference schedule in disappointing fashion with a 7-0 loss to Georgia State on Sunday afternoon. The Panthers improved to an impressive 12-2 on the season with the victory.
The Eagles (1-12, 0-2 SoCon) opened the match by losing three tight matches in doubles play. The No. 1 doubles tandem of Alain Garrido (Vigo, Spain) and Andrew Dromsky (Martinez, Ga.), winners of three of their previous four matches, fell by an 8-5 score to Victor Valente and Juan Pablo Gutierrez, putting the Eagles in an early hole. The doubles point was clinched by the Panthers when Ismael Lahlou and Sofiane Chevallier defeated freshmen Albert Codina Sala (Manresa, Spain) and Kyle Hoffman (Sarasota, Fla.) at No. 3 doubles, 8-6. Thomas Cook and Matias Hatem also won for the Panthers by an 8-6 score in a close contest at No. 2 doubles against Daniel Rush (Orange Park, Fla.) and Marco Osorio (Tegucigalpa, Honduras).
The Panthers were able to pull away from the Eagles in singles play. Lahlou defeated Rush at No. 5 singles and Chevallier downed Dromsky at No. 4 singles, giving the Panthers a 3-0 lead. The match was clinched when Garrido fell at No. 1 singles to Valente, the No. 14 player in the ITA Southeast Singles rankings. Hoffman lost at No. 2 singles to Hatem, followed by Sebastien Felt (Vienna, Austria) losing to Gutierrez at No. 6 singles by a 6-2, 6-3 score. Codina Sala attempted to make a comeback but was stalled by Cook at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8).
The Eagles have faced an arduous slate of non-conference opponents this season. The combined record of their 11 non-conference foes is a hefty 77-45. The Eagles will look to take this valuable experience and translate it to wins in the remainder of their conference schedule.
Next up for the Eagles is a road battle with the Chattanooga Mocs on Thursday afternoon. The official start time of the match is still to be determined. The road trip will continue when the Eagles face Samford on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
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