Ty Ammons
Staff Writer
The Troy Trojans men’s tennis team won all three of its matches, making for 10 straight wins, on March 27 and 28 at the Troy Spring Invitational.
After moving up five spots in the ITA National Team Rankings last week, Troy is now ranked No. 57.
Head coach Scott Kidd said that the No. 57 ranking that Troy has earned is a result of hard work.
“The guys can get kind of complacent,” Kidd said.
He went on to say that to keep them level-headed he reminds them that the ranking means nothing.
“When the conference tournament comes, it’s like starting over,” he said. “The team is taking the matches on one at a time.”
Troy played Appalachian State on Friday, March 27, and dropped only one match.
Junior Gabriel Dias defeated sophomore Oliver Casey 6-1, 4-6, 1-0.
Sophomore Hassan Ndayishimye bested sophomore Jack Maddocks 6-0, 6-1.
Sophomore Pablo Moreno won 6-2, 6-3 against junior Zach Bost.
Junior Giovani Samaha defeated junior Jan-Willem Kleynhans 6-2, 6-3.
Freshman Cyprian Owczarz won 6-3, 6-3 against sophomore Trey Morris.
Freshman Andy Lau and Dias won line one doubles 6-1 against Casey and Kleynhans.
Freshman Calum McKinlay and Samaha defeated Morris and Bost 7-5.
Moreno and Ndayishimye’s doubles match was unfinished.
Troy played New Orleans on Friday as well, and swept the Privateers. Troy played only three singles due to the fact that the team had won at that point.
Dias defeated senior Rui Silva 6-2, 6-1. Samaha won 6-1, 6-2 against senior Romain Lefevre.
Owczarz won his match against senior Daniel Populus 6-1, 6-0.
Lau and Dias defeated Silva and senior Blake Gregor 6-2.
Samaha and Moreno won their doubles match 6-1 against Lefevre and junior Gonzalo Garcia.
Ndayishimye and McKinlay’s doubles match was unfinished.
The Trojans played against South Carolina State on Saturday, March 28, and the team dropped only three matches.
Ndayishimye defeated senior Rodney Carey 6-1, 7-5. Dias defeated sophomore Martin Figura 6-2, 6-2.
Lau won 6-1, 6-1 against sophomore Stanislav Baco.
Samaha defeated freshman Jakub Vitek 6-3, 6-3. Owczarz defeated sophomore Edgar Diaz 6-3, 6-2.
Junior Daniel Bustamante and sophomore Andre Baldo won their line two doubles match against sophomore Soufiane Mouline and Diaz 8-6.
Head coach Scott Kidd said it was tough wins, like the matchup against South Carolina, that build a lot of confidence for the team moving forward.
The men’s team heads to Orlando, Florida, on Friday, April 3, to face UCF and Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.
