Ty Ammons
Staff Writer
The Troy University men’s and women’s tennis teams played in the Big Easy Tennis Classic at the University of New Orleans last weekend.
The teams combined racked up 14 match wins on the opening day on Friday, Oct. 24.
Freshman Sanae Ohta won her first match in Flight One singles against sophomore Marquax Kaltenbacher from Southeastern Louisiana University with a score of 3-6, 7-5, 10-5. Ohta lost in the semifinals against redshirt freshman Lyn Yuen Choo from West Virginia University with a score of 7-5, 6-4.
Freshman Linnea Skymberg won her first match in Flight Two singles against freshman Amy Olivier from Sun Belt rival ULM with a score 4-6, 6-3, 10-6. Skymberg lost her second match to senior Marta Sans from University of New Orleans with a score of 7-5, 6-0.
Junior Brooke Durden won her first match in Flight Three singles 6-3, 6-2 against freshman Dasia Harris from Xavier University of Louisiana, but was defeated in her second match to freshman Dany Raygadas from Southeastern Louisiana University with a score of 6-3, 6-3
Freshman Julia Mota Albuquerque won her first match in Flight Three singles 6-0, 6-0 against sophomore Alexa Mancuso from Loyola University New Orleans. Albuquerque lost her second match 6-0, 6-2 to freshman Carolina Lewis from West Virginia University.
The doubles team of Skymberg and Durden was the only women’s team from Troy to compete in the doubles draw. They lost their first match 8-3 against junior Hafsa Laraibi and sophomore Yasmine Rashad from University of New Orleans.
Junior Giovani Samaha played and won the Championship in Flight One singles. Samaha took on freshman Wen-Po Tseng, from the University of Southern Mississippi, in the semifinals match and won 6-4, 6-4. Samaha won the championship against senior Timo Kranz from University of New Orleans with a score of 1-6, 6-4, 10-8.
Sophomore Pablo Moreno played in Flight Two singles, and he won his first match against freshman Miguel Gomez Martin from Jackson State University with a score of 6-1, 6-0. Moreno won his second match 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 against sophomore Coleman Wahlberg form the University of Louisiana Lafayette. Moreno’s run ended against freshman Giacomo Adoncecchi from University of New Orleans and Moreno lost 7-5, 6-4.
Teammate junior William McClelland won his first two matches but then lost his third round match 6-1, 6-3 against sophomore Grigory Trotsenko from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Junior Daniel Bustamante, sophomore Andre Baldo and freshman Austin Racine competed in singles matches, but they all lost their first match
Samaha and Moreno competed in the men’s doubles draw, and won the whole doubles draw. The pair defeated doubles teams from Jackson State University, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the University of New Orleans.
Racine and McClelland, along with Bustamante and Baldo, also played in the doubles draw. They both won their first match but lost in their second matches.
The women’s tennis team’s next tournament is on Oct. 31-Nov. 2 in Roberta Allison Fall Invitational in Tuscaloosa. The men’s next and final tournament of the fall semester will be held on Nov. 6-9 in the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in Flushing, New York.
