STATESBORO – The Georgia Southern men's tennis team won its match over the South Carolina State Bulldogs, 6-1, on Sunday afternoon at the Wallis Tennis Center.

The afternoon began with the doubles matches, where the Eagles quickly handled business by clinching the double point. Alexandros Roumpis and Valentin Dun won at the No. 2 position by a score of 6-1, and Tao Castillo and Alex Suk won at the No. 1 position by a score of 6-2, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead to start the afternoon. Pol del Castillo and Laurent Julia Calac came up just short in the No. 3 position, falling in their match, 6-3.

The singles matches saw the Eagles gaining an advantage early on several courts with South Carolina State fighting to stay in the match. Julia Calac was the first one off the court, where he won his match at the No. 6 position (6-2, 6-4) to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. Roumpis followed him shortly after at the No. 2 position (6-3, 6-4) and Castillo gave the Eagles the decisive point at the No. 3 position (6-3, 7-5),  clinching the match for the home team. At the No. 1 position, del Castillo fell (6-1, 7-6) after fighting back in the second set but came up a little short. Dimitris Paliouras defeated his opponent  at the No. 4 position (7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (8)), and Dun finished the afternoon with a victory at the No. 5 position (6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (6)), to give the Eagles the 6-1 win on the afternoon.

QUOTE FROM COACH BAYON: "I'm very happy for our players; they competed well and showed a lot of toughness in the important moments. We are on the right path, but still have some work to do!
It is a great way for us to start the second part of our season. We are looking forward to playing Mercer at home on Friday and keep improving as a team."

UP NEXT: The Eagles will host intrastate opponent Mercer on Friday, March 11, at the Wallis Tennis Center. First serve is set for 2 p.m.

RESULTS

Doubles
T. Castillo/A. Suk (GS) def. R. Halfinger/B. Niv, 6-2
A. Roumpis/V. Dun (GS) def. D Araluz/S. Ben Ali, 6-1
A. Benchakroun/I. Pauleychenko def. P. del Castillo/L. Julia Calac (GS), 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles
R. Halfinger def. P. del Castillo (GS), 6-1, 7-6
A. Roumpis (GS) def. B. Niv, 6-3, 6-4
T. Castillo (GS) def. A. Benchakroun, 6-3, 7-5
D. Paliouras (GS) def. O. Gorgun, 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (8)
V. Dun (GS) def. D, Araluz, 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (6)
L. Julia Calac (GS) def. I. Pauleychenko, 6-2, 6-4
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 3, 1, 4, 5