Statesboro, Ga. – It was a beautiful morning at the Wallis Tennis Center, as the Eagles rebounded to upend the Hornets 6-1. The Eagles won all 3 doubles matches to earn the first point of the match and never looked back. The victory is the first of the season for the Eagles as they improve to 1-2.
"We talked about the importance of staying focused before the match today," said Interim Coach
Carlos Oyaga. "Yesterday we didn't capitalize on the opportunities we had, so the message today was to be focused on every point. The guys came hungry to play today and we wanted to set a great tone for the match right out of the gate."
At No. 1 Doubles,
Kyle Hoffman and Eduardo Landin took down Alabama State's Ronald Mataba and Jarred Thompson 6-2. Soon after,
Ristomatti Lanne and
Nico de Groof clinched the crucial doubles point as they defeated Takura Mlambo and Karlo Skovrc 6-2 at No. 2 Doubles. The exclamation point came as the No. 3 doubles tandem of
Christian Kerrigan and
Albert Codina Sala claimed victory over Patrik Cvik and Divijay Singh Naruka 6-2.
Moving in to singles competition 1-0 for the match, the Eagles intensified the pressure on the visiting Hornets. The 2nd point of the match was won at the No. 5 singles position as Landin defeated Thompson 6-1, 6-1. Moments later, Lanne got the 3rd point of the match as he won in straight sets over Cvik 6-1, 6-0.
"I played bad yesterday in tough conditions so today I just tried to play solid," said Lanne. "I knew I had to stay focused even though they switched their line-up and just make sure I got the point for us."
The match was clinched in favor of the home team at the No. 6 singles spot.
Daniel Casablancas, who has seen limited action due to injury, managed a straight set victory over Naruka 6-3, 6-0. From there, Alabama State claimed its lone point of the match at No. 2 singles as Kerrigan was setback by Mlambo 2-6, 2-6.
Codina Sala added another point for the Eagles as he issued defeat to Skovrc 6-3-6-1 at the No. 4 position to make it 5-1 for the team match. Hoffman was the last man on the court as he fought for a straight set win over Mataba 7-6(4), 6-2.
"It was a nice testament to our team culture to see the guys come over and rally around Kyle," concluded Oyaga. "Even though we had clinched the match it was great for him to have that support. Kyle was able to keep the fight on and he got a good win today."
The Eagles return to action when they travel to Florida to take on Florida Atlantic Saturday January 31 at 1 p.m. and Florida Gulf Coast Sunday at 12 p.m.
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