Women's Tennis | 4/9/2016 5:16:00 PM

ATLANTA.- Winning their second Sun Belt contest in a row, the Georgia Southern women's tennis team advanced to 12-7 and 2-2 in conference play after defeating Troy in a close 4-3 dual match at the Georgia State tennis courts.

"I am very pleased with the way that we played during our singles competition today," head coach Michele Stanford said. "Troy is a very tough team to beat, and our girls put up a fight from the very start."
 
Unable to score the doubles point, the Eagles had to fight back during singles to level the playing field. Lindsay Truscott was able to tie it up 1-1 after winning at line three 6-3, 6-1 before Giulia Riepe (No.1) and Emilia Bujan (No.4) scored two more for the Eagles.

"Although we lost a tough doubles point at the start of the match, we quickly bounced back and came out swinging," Stanford said. "It took a lot of discipline to gain four singles points, and I am very proud of those four girls for adjusting to the difficult circumstances and getting the job done."

The Trojans (11-7) went on to win the next two matches against Mariana Ranzahuer (No.2) and Francisca Norregaard (No.5). However, Mary Phillips Smith clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at line six.

"I have to give a shout out to senior, Mary Phillips, for clinching yet another conference win for our team. She remained calm and focused on every point, and her aggressiveness led to our fourth and final point of the day," Stanford said.

Last week, Smith clinched the match against their last Sun Belt opponent, UL Monroe as she won in a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 decision.

RESULTS
Georgia Southern 4, Troy 3

Singles competition
1. Giulia Riepe (GS) def. Jiayuan Xue (TROY) 6-3, 6-2
2. Sanae Ohta (TROY) def. Mariana Ranzahuer (GS) 6-1, 6-4
3. Lindsay Truscott (GS) def. Hannah Seizer (TROY) 6-3, 6-1
4. Emilia Bujan (GS) def. Efriliya Herlina (TROY) 6-4, 6-3
5. Nancy Karaky (TROY) def. Francisca Norregaard (GS) 6-4, 6-2
6. Mary Phillips Smith (GS) def. Luisa Ferrauti (TROY) 6-4, 6-4
 
Doubles competition
1. Jiayuan Xue/Hannah Seizer (TROY) def. Mariana Ranzahuer/Lindsay Truscott (GS) 6-4
2. Sanae Ohta/Efriliya Herlina (TROY) vs. Giulia Riepe/Francisca Norregaard (GS) 4-4, unfinished
3. Alicia Rodriguez/Nancy Karaky (TROY) def. Emilia Bujan/Mary Phillips Smith (GS) 6-3
 
UP NEXT
 
The Eagles play their final regular season dual match against Appalachian State on Sunday in Atlanta. The match begins at 10 a.m.
 
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