Men?s Tennis Begins Three-Match Slate
3/22/2012 2:03:00 PM | Men's Tennis
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Georgia Southern Men's Tennis team will look to break out of its slump when it plays a trio of matches this week. The Eagles will host their second-to-last home match of the season when Appalachian State comes to town for a Friday match at 2:30 p.m. The team will then hit the road and play visitor to Furman on Sunday at 11 a.m. and Wofford on Monday at 10 a.m.
The Eagles (1-15, 0-5 SoCon) are looking to bounce back from three tough conference losses at Chattanooga and Samford and at home against Elon. Andrew Dromsky (Martinez, Ga.) posted wins in three of his four away matches, defeating Chattanooga in a three-setter and teaming with Alain Garrido (Vigo, Spain) to go undefeated in doubles. The singles win puts him atop the leaderboard for team singles victories, while Garrido and he share the title for doubles. Marco Osorio (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) picked up a come-from-behind win against Samford, while Sebastien Felt (Vienna, Austria) did the same against Elon. Garrido, Kyle Hoffman (Sarasota, Fla.), and Daniel Rush (Orange Park, Fla.) each narrowly fell in three-set affairs on the road trip.
The Appalachian State Mountaineers are 6-5 on the season with two losses coming to ranked teams. They lost to Samford, 4-3, in their only conference match played to this point. The Eagles are 22-9 all-time against the Mountaineers and had won three straight before falling, 5-2, in Boone last year. Matthijs Verdam (Hilversum, The Netherlands) was victorious in last year's match, while Garrido posted a win in the 2010 meeting between the teams.
The Furman Paladins sport a 4-11 record on the year, but eight losses to ranked squads speaks to the strength of their non-conference schedule. The Paladins are 1-1 in SoCon play, defeating Chattanooga and falling to Samford. They are led by Andrew Mellow, the No. 110 ranked player in the country. The Eagles hold a 6-16 all-time record against the Paladins, but they broke an 11-match losing streak with a 4-3 victory in last year's contest. Felt, Osorio, and Verdam each rallied from dropping their first sets to win in three and clinch the win for the Eagles.
The Wofford Terriers are 2-8 on the season and 1-2 in SoCon action, fresh off a win over The Citadel. The Eagles are 7-8 head-to-head against the Terriers but have lost three straight meetings. Garrido notched a singles victory over the Terriers last year, while Verdam won in doubles play in the 2010 contest.
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