Dylan Hurst
Staff Writer
The Troy men’s tennis team faced Georgia State in a Sun Belt Conference dual match but came up short, 1-4. The Trojans almost clinched the doubles point during the beginning of the match but couldn’t close it out.
Pelayo Antuna and Jiaqi Duan came up short in doubles play, as they fell 6-4 against State’s MacFarlane and Hussey. In the No. 2 spot, Oskar Michalek and Andy Romero won 6-2 against State’s Duarte and Grinvalds. However, the last deciding point in the doubles play was scored by Georgia State, as Christopher Tasker and Jorge Poyatos fell 6-4 against Georgia State.
Oskar Michalek was substituted for Antuna for the No. 1 seed, but he fell 6-4, 6-2 against State’s Robert Grinvalds. Antuna was leading the tie-breaker first set against Vazha Shubladze, who had to retire due to a knee injury. At the No. 4 spot, Tasker was almost able to clinch the second team point, but the match was over after Georgia State collected four team points to win the competition.
In last Sunday’s action, Troy came up short, 4-3, against Sun Belt foe Georgia Southern, failing to clinch the doubles point and falling against many tough singles matches in three sets.
Troy’s final home matchup got started after a strong opening effort by Georgia Southern. The Trojans came up short in both doubles matches, while the third match remained unfinished.
The team went into the singles play, where Christopher Tasker secured the first win, 6-2, 7-5, of the day. At the No. 2 spot, Pelayo Antuna clinched another point, 7-5, 7-6, in the two sets against Stefano Di Aloy.
The Trojans were close to mounting a comeback and earned four points in singles, but a set win from Manuel Bernard wasn’t enough, as Jiaqi Duan, Oskar Michalek and Antonio Selma fell in close three-set matches.
Troy men’s tennis will travel to take on UT-Arlington on Friday, April 5.
