Wally Pendergrass
Staff Writer
Four Trojans earned Sun Belt All-Conference honors in New Orleans last week and both teams’ seasons came to an end at the conference tournament.
On the women’s side, sophomore Trang Huynh received Sun Belt All-Conference Singles First Team honors. Huynh had a great season, finishing with a 17-4 record and had a 10-match win streak going into the conference tournament.
Sophomore Anja Cosovic received Sun Belt All-Conference Singles Second Team honors after posting a 17-3 singles record on the season. Huynh and Cosovic were also named to the Sun Belt All-Conference Doubles First Team. The pair had a 17-2 record, won 16 straight matches and hasn’t lost since January 25.
For the men, sophomore Gabriel Sciacca Dias was a Sun Belt All-Conference Singles First Team selection after posting a 13-9 singles record on the season, including two wins over nationally ranked opponents. Sophomore Daniel Bustamante, who had an 11-9 singles record, received Sun Belt All-Conference Singles Second Team honors.
After receiving those awards Thursday, April 17, the teams set their eyes on conference tournament play.
The women were paired up against the fifth seed Texas State in the quarterfinals on Friday, April 18. This was an exciting match that would push the Trojans to the limit. Huynh and Cosovic won at doubles but Texas State would take the other two doubles matches and get the doubles point to go up 1-0.
Huynh and senior Lyubov Dorofeeva put Troy up 2-1 with singles wins. The Bobcats responded to tie the match but sophomore Margot De Haan put Troy back up 3-2.
Texas State would tie the match at 3-3 and it was now up to all-conference selection Cosovic. She had to come back from losing the first set and, after a three hour match, she would clinch a win for the Trojans, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5).
The men paired up against the fourth seed UT Arlington and would ultimately fall 4-1 in the match. The Trojans lost the doubles point to go down 1-0, but Dias won 6-1, 6-1 to tie the match at 1-1.
The Mavericks would win the next three matches and get the win 4-1. Troy’s first season under head coach Scott Kidd came to an end after an 8-17 campaign.
The women’s tennis team then went on to face the tournament’s top seed and nationally ranked Georgia State on Saturday, April 19. The Panthers proved to be too much and the Trojans’ season ended after a 4-0 loss. Georgia State won the doubles point; Huynh and Cosovic were leading the twentieth ranked pair in doubles when the point was clinched. The Panthers clinched the match quickly in singles and the Trojans’ season ended. The women’s team finished the season 15-8 and only lost two matches in its final 12 matches.
