STATESBORO - Georgia Southern men's tennis opened up Sun Belt Conference play on Friday by picking up a 4-2 victory over Troy at the Wallis Tennis Center.

The Eagles moved to 10-5 overall and 1-0 in the Sun Belt with the win, while Troy falls to 14-5 overall and 0-1 in the league. Georgia Southern will host South Alabama on Sunday to wrap up the opening weekend of Sun Belt action in a 10 a.m. match at Wallis.

Troy was able to claim the doubles point in the match with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Aaron James Williams and Laurent Julia Calac ran their doubles win streak to 10 wiht a 7-5 win over Noah Martens and Nicolas Simkin at No. 1 doubles.

Georgia Southern tied the match with a 6-3, 6-4 win by Williams over Simkin at No. 2 singles. then took a 2-1 lead thanks to Pierre Mouesca's 6-3, 6-4 win over Hiiro Sakamoto at No. 4 singles.

Troy evened things back up with a straight-set singles win at No. 5 singles, but Matthew Mitchell put the Eagles back in front with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over Luciano Alcocer at No. 6 singles.

Dimitris Paliuoras then clinched the victory with a 6-3, 7-6 (0) win at No. 1 singles.

"We knew going into this match that it was going to be a battle," Georgia Southern head men's tennis coach Andrew Goodwin said. "I thought that our heads were in the right place the whole day, even when we weren't playing our best tennis. Our guys were locked in on each other, locked in on helping each other out with their tough, disciplined actions. I thought it was a good start. We're going to have to get better tomorrow and then get ready for a tough South Alabama team on Sunday."

Georgia Southern 4, Troy 2
Results

Singles
1. Dimitris Paliouras (GS) def. Yeray Andreas Pastor (TROY) 6-3, 7-6 (0)
2. Aaron James Williams (GS) def. Nicolas Simkin (TROY) 6-3, 6-4
3. Pol del Castillo (GS) vs. Noah Martens (TROY) 6-3, 3-6, 6-6, unfinished
4. Pierre Mouesca (GS) def. Hiiro Sakamoto (TROY) 6-3, 6-4
5. Henrique de Brito (TROY) def. Laurent Julia Calac (GS) 6-3, 7-6 (4)
6. Matthew Mitchell (GS) def. Luciano Alcocer (TROY) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0

Doubles
1. Laurent Julia Calac/Aaron James Williams (GS) def. Noah Martens/Nicolas Simkin (TROY) 7-5
2. Yeray Andres Pastor/Henrique de Brito (TROY) def. Pierre Mouesca/Dimitris Paliouras (GS) 6-2
3. Luciano Alcocer/Hiiro Sakamoto (TROY) def. Pol del Castillo/Matthew Mitchell (GS) 7-5