By: Brandon Lee TROY, Ala. – The Troy men’s and women’s tennis teams competed in a combined three matches this past weekend, with the men opening their home slate while the women traveled to Florida. The men opened their home schedule against Southern Miss, and fell, 5-2, at the Lunsford Tennis Complex. Mansingh Athare and Sami Ghorbel combined as a duo for the first time this season, and took the first spot in the lineup. They faced tough competition in the 60th ranked doubles team in the nation in Andrew Goodwin and Matt Frost. The duo fought back and forth, but the Trojans fell 8-5. Troy also fell at second doubles to give Southern Miss the opening point. In singles play, Anas Rouchdi dominated Frost in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. The fifth singles point was also won by the Trojans when Ghorbel beat Vasco Valverde, 6-0, 6-3, in straight sets. Troy lost the remainder of the matches to drop its home opener. The men now have a week off until February 21st when they take to the court at Samford. The women began their weekend in Orlando at UCF, and dropped the match 5-2. UCF swept Troy in doubles, but the Trojans rebounded to win the first three sets in the singles point. The early point came from Anja Cosovic at fourth singles where she defeated Courtney Griffith in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. The Golden Knights took straight set matches at third and fifth singles to take a 3-1 lead, and Troy could manage just one win in the remaining sets to drop the match. Troy’s second win came when Hannah Toro defeated UCF’s Jenna Doerfler, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3. Sunday morning, the team rebounded from Friday’s loss to defeat Furman, 4-1, on a neutral court in Orlando. Cosovic and Toro won at second doubles, 8-2, while Rosaura Ramirez-Vega and Olivia Brooke Durden did the same at third, 8-3. After clinching the opening point, Cosovic kept things going as she won 6-0, 6-1, at fourth singles over Kelly Sullivan. Cosovic, just a freshman, is now 4-1 on the season in singles action. Grymel entered play at 0-7 in singles action, but she took care of Lauren Kline, the No. 68 player in the ITA national singles rankings, to win in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. Ramirez-Vega clinched the match for Troy with a straight set win at sixth singles, 7-5, 6-2. The women return to the court Wednesday at No. 68 Auburn before hosting Samford on Saturday at the Lunsford Tennis Complex.
Staff Writer
Opmerkingen