Men?s Tennis Returns to Conference Play on Road
3/14/2012 2:16:00 PM | Men's Tennis
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Georgia Southern Men's Tennis team will return to conference play when it plays visitor to hosts Chattanooga and Samford this week. Matches are slated to begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday and Saturday.
The Eagles (1-12, 0-2 SoCon) are coming off a week in which they suffered home losses to Davidson and non-conference opponents Georgia State and No. 70 Stetson. The Eagles closed their non-conference slate on Sunday and look to finish the season strong while battling their SoCon rivals. Alain Garrido (Vigo, Spain) notched his 32nd career singles victory in the match against Davidson and his 20th career doubles victory in the match against Stetson while teaming with partner Andrew Dromsky (Martinez, Ga.). The pair also defeated the Wildcats' 57th ranked doubles tandem in the nation on Wednesday. The team of Marco Osorio (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) and Daniel Rush (Orange Park, Fla.) also won to capture the doubles point for the Eagles in that match. Dromsky added to his singles win total in the match against Stetson.
The Chattanooga Mocs are 9-3 on the season with a 1-1 mark in SoCon play. Their six-match winning streak was snapped at Elon last weekend, but they also pulled off a dramatic 4-3 victory at UNC Greensboro. The Eagles sport a 13-15 all-time record against the Mocs and had won three meetings in a row before falling in the first round of last year's SoCon tournament, 4-3. Garrido and Matthijs Verdam (Hilversum, The Netherlands) won singles matches in the tournament matchup, while Verdam and the doubles team of Garrido and Derrick Davison (Peachtree City, Ga.) won in the regular season matchup.
The Samford Bulldogs are 8-2 on the season including victories over Wofford and Appalachian State. They are currently riding a five-match winning streak dating back over a month's time. The Eagles are 6-4-1 all-time against the Bulldogs from Birmingham. The Eagles lost 5-2 in last year's meeting but won in 2010 behind a singles win from Garrido. Verdam scored singles and doubles victories in last year's match, while Garrido's match in 2009 was at the center of a protest that declared the meeting a 3-3 tie.
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