NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Georgia Southern men's tennis team came away victorious in its match against Lipscomb at the Richland Country Club in Nashville on Friday night, 5-2.
The evening started with the doubles matches and saw Lipscomb securing the doubles point. The Bison won at the No. 2 and No. 1 positions while Pol del Castillo and Laurent Julia Calac won their match at the No. 3 position.
Singles action started shortly after where the teams played on four indoor courts. The Eagles were able to even the contest with Alex Roumpis winning his match at No. 2 position (6-4, 6-2). He was soon followed with a win from Valentin Dun, edging Garcia Nieto in two sets (6-3, 7-5) giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead. Julia Calac gave the Eagles a third point with a quick victory (6-4, 6-2) at the No. 5 position. Lipscomb would earn another point with del Castillo losing a close match at the No. 1 position (4-6, 7-5, 6-3), setting the score at 3-2 with the Eagles ahead.
The last two matches remaining were at the No. 4 and No. 6 positions. The Eagles' fourth point came from Dimitris Paliouras, who clinched the contest after a marathon match. Paliouras went on to win the match in the final set tie breakers (6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (10-8)) to give the Eagles the win. To cap the evening, Jaap Aaldering beat his opponent (6-3 ,7-5) which gave another point to Georgia Southern.
The Eagles will stay in Nashville and take on the Belmont Bruins on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 4 p.m.
QUOTE FROM COACH BAYON: "WE FIGHT! This evening, we had our backs against the wall and we responded with a lot of poise and passion. In a difficult environment, the team found the resources to get a well-deserved win. I am excited for tomorrow as we are playing a great Belmont team."
RESULTS
Doubles
P. Uribe/G. Garcia-Nieto def. A. Roumpis/V. Dun (GS), 6-4
A. Mesquida/S. Fischer def. J. Mitchell/A. Suk (GS), 6-0
P. del Castillo/L. Julia Calac (GS) def. M. Bagdonovich/L. Stojanovic, 7-6 (5)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
M. Bagdonovich def. P. del Castillo (GS), 4-6 7-5 6-3
A. Roumpis (GS) def. P. Uribe, 6-0 6-2
V. Dun (GS) def. G. Garcia-Nieto, 6-4 6-2
D. Paliouras (GS) def. A. Mesquida, 6-3 5-7 7-6 (10-8)
L. Julia Calc (GS) def. L. Stojanovic, 6-4 6-2
J. Aaldering (GS) def. S. Fischer, 6-3 7-5
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 5, 1, 4, 6
