Michael Shipma
Sports Editor
The Troy women’s tennis team split its first two conference matches over the weekend, dropping a 3-4 contest to Georgia State before beating Coastal Carolina 4-2.
Both games were hosted by Georgia State, with the Trojans taking on the Panthers on Saturday and Coastal Carolina on Sunday. Senior Alicia Rodriguez led the way for the Trojans in singles play, winning both of her matches over the weekend.
Saturday’s match with the hosting Panthers started off slow for Troy as they dropped the first two doubles matches before playing an unfinished match.
It wasn’t until the singles phase that the Trojans found their rhythm and earned their three points. Troy’s Hannah Seizer and Luisa Ferrauti dropped the first two singles matches in two sets each, but Efriliya Herlina helped her team bounce back with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win. Nancy Karaky and Rodriguez earned wins in the next two matches to round out the scoring for the Trojans.
However, Georgia State’s Kristin Rehse claimed the match-winning point for the Panthers over Sanae Ohta following a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 contest.
The Trojans rebounded from their first conference loss of the season with its first conference win, taking down Sun Belt-newcomer Coastal Carolina. Dominance in doubles play was the key factor for the Trojans as the Chanticleers played Troy to a 3-3 tie in the singles matches.
The duo of Karaky and Ohta cruised to a 6-2 win over Coastal Carolina’s Marie Babayan and Sara Bondar, while Herlina and Jiayuan Xue won their match to the tune of a 6-1 scoreline.
Coastal Carolina picked up the pace in the singles portion of the day as Herlina and Karaky fell prey to the Chanticleers in two sets each. Seizer’s match with CCU’s Natalie Wall went unfinished.
Picking up wins for the Trojans were Ferrauti, Ohta and Rodriguez, which helped seal the deal for Troy. Rodriguez had to battle for her win, winning a three-set contest against the Chanticleers’ Romane Delay.
Troy will have a bit of a break before its next competition as it travels to Mobile to take on Georgia Southern on Saturday, April 8.
