Men's Tennis | 1/15/2017 10:47:00 AM

STATESBORO, Ga. – To begin the 2017 season the Eagle men's tennis team traveled to Clemson, South Carolina, for a doubleheader against Clemson and The Citadel. The Eagles split the opening matches, falling 4-3 to Clemson and defeating The Citadel 7-0. Eddie Landin finished the day 4-0 and helped the team battle back from a 3-0 deficit against Clemson early on.
 
"For me, I learned that there is no big or small team," Landin said. "Everyone is just another player with potential. I defeated a player from a well-known school in three sets and I also pulled another 'W' in three sets against another school that is no as well-known as Clemson. We also proved to ourselves that we can compete at any level and that just comes down to believing in us."
 
CLEMSON – The Tigers jumped out to an early lead heading into singles after defeating two of the three Eagle doubles teams. During the singles matches, the Eagles would claw their way back to level the score at 3-3, before Clemson took the match 4-3.
 
"I want to give credit to Clemson, they competed well on all courts," said head coach Sander Koning. "We got down quick in doubles and against teams like Clemson it is tough to come back from that. JC and Eddie were able to turn it around and with their doubles match. In singles, it was very competitive. Dani played a tough opponent but was able to get into the match in the second set. The same goes for JC. JC had opportunities to go to three sets. Eddie and Santi got us back into the match with good play. Artemie took care of business. We had momentum, unfortunately, we couldn't close things out on court 6."
 
SINGLES RESULTS
 
Favrot def. Casablancas 6-1, 6-3
No. 123 Sanon def. Alcala 6-2, 7-5
Landin def. Dudley 0-6, 6-3, 6-3
Suarez def. Edwards 7-6, (9-7), 6-4
Amari def. Harris 6-4, 7-5
Kelaidis def. Di Aloy 6-2, 6-3
 
DOUBLES RESULTS
 
Favrot/Edwards def. Amari/Finkelstein 6-2
Dudley/Kelaidis def. Casablancas/Di Aloy 6-2
Alcala/Landin def. Sanon/Harris 8-5
 
 
CITADEL – In the second half of the doubleheader the Eagles would sweep The Citadel 7-0. JC Alcala and Eddie Landin continued where they left off in doubles defeating Nawabi/Grady 6-2. The Eagles would take all three doubles matches and head into singles leading 1-0. Freshman Stefano Di Aloy would win his first career match as an Eagle defeating Hobson 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
 
"It wasn't a pretty match," Koning said. "But the guys showed great mental strength and pulled out a good win. Our number one doubles team started us off right and in singles, our freshman, Diego and Murphy, did a good job getting off the court quick. These quick wins helped us for the rest of the match. Eddie went 4-0 this weekend and has been a warrior today."
 
SINGLES RESULTS
 
Alcala def. Henson 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
Landin def. Anzalone 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
Suarez def. Nawabi 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
Di Aloy def. Hobson 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
Finkelstein def. Davis 6-0, 6-0
McCullough def. Pyritz 6-1, 6-1
 
DOUBLES RESULTS
 
Casablancas/Di Aloy def. Henson/Anzalone 6-1
Alcala/Landin def. Nawabi/Grady 6-2
Finkelstein/McCullough def. Stolar/Pyritz 6-2
 
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