Men's Tennis | 1/29/2017 10:47:00 AM

STATESBORO, Ga. – For the first time this season, the men's tennis team was in action at home at the Wallis Tennis Center. The Eagles would face off against Alabama State and South Carolina State University. The Eagles would sweep the weekend, improving to 4-3 on the season, by defeating both ASU and SCSU 6-1. Next up for the Eagles is Tennessee Tech on Feb. 4 at 1 p.m. and Chattanooga on Feb. 5 at 10 a.m. This will be a short two-match road trip before returning home for the next six matches.

"When I look at the entire day, the one thing I liked the most was that whenever we were on the court for doubles or singles the guys were focused and competitive," said head coach Sander Koning. "It is something we work on every day and it will help us later on in the season. Overall, two solid wins, which we will enjoy. Starting next week we will set our mind to Tennessee Tech and UTC."

ALABAMA STATE – The Eagles defeated the Alabama State Hornets 6-1, in the first half of Saturday's doubleheader. JC Alcala and Eddie Landin would set the tone for doubles play after defeating their opponents 6-1. The Eagles would win all three doubles matches and take a 1-0 lead into singles play. Stefano Di Aloy would make quick work of his opponent in his first home match as an Eagle, defeating Carl-Louis Luckmann 6-0, 6-0.

"The team played well," Koning said. "The conditions weren't ideal and the tennis wasn't always pretty, but we came out with a lot of energy and showed our opponents we wanted to compete. In doubles, we got some quick leads and were able to run away with them. We carried over the momentum we had from doubles into singles. Stefano played really well and was off the court quick. This always helps the team and gives the other guys more motivation. Artemie was able to come back after losing the second set, which is always good to have for the future matches."

SINGLES RESULTS

Mlambo def. Landin 6-4, 6-2
Suarez def. Efrim 6-3, 6-2
Amari def. Fernandez 6-1, 6-7, 1-0 (5)
Di Aloy def. Lockmann 6-0, 6-0
Finkelstein def. Puzstay 6-3, 6-2
McCullough def. Skvorc 6-4, 6-4

DOUBLES RESULTS 
 
Amari/Finkelstein def. Mlambo 6-3
Alcala/Landin def. Fernandez/Lockmann 6-1
Di Aloy/Suarez def. Skvorc/Pusztay 6-1

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE – Dani Casablancas notched his first singles win this season defeating Soufine Mouline 6-4, 6-2.  Casablancas and Murphy McCullough set the tone for doubles play early in the match, defeating Diaz/Stupar 6-4. Artemie Amari and Diego Finkelstein would finish off their opponents and give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. During singles play Alcala, Casablancas, Suarez, and Di Aloy got off the court quick winning in straight sets. This allowed the Eagles to jump out to a 5-0 lead before defeating South Carolina State 6-1 completing the sweep.  
 
"South Carolina State started out well," added Koning. "We had to keep our focus throughout the matches and were able to strike when we needed to. In doubles, Artemie and Diego gave us a quick lead, which puts more pressure on the opponents. Dani and Murphy broke their opponents once and were able to serve out the match with solid play. In singles, we had some good battles going on. Especially on the top courts it was fun to watch. We were able to keep our composure when it counted and that was the main difference. I am happy for Dani and getting his first singles win of the year. He has been playing well and now he got rewarded for it."
 
SINGLES RESULTS
 
Alcala def. Yanchenko 6-4, 7-5
Landin def. Figura 6-4, 3-6, 10-7
Casablancas def. Mouline 6-4, 6-2
Suarez def. Stupar 6-1, 6-2
Baco def. Amari 6-4, 3-6, 10-5
Di Aloy def. Diaz 6-2, 6-4

DOUBLES RESULTS

Amari/Finkelstein def. Figura/Mouline 6-3
Alcala/Landin def. Baco/Yanchenko DNF
Casablancas/McCullough def. Diaz/Stupar 6-4

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