Women’s tennis splits two home matches

Trojans fall to 1-2 in spring season while month-long road stretch looms on the horizon

The Troy women’s tennis team made quick work of Florida A&M in their home opener at the Lunsford Tennis Complex on Jan. 28.

The short-handed Rattlers squad was forced to forfeit a line in both singles and doubles, which put the Trojans up 1-0 before play even began.

The doubles duo of Leena Metwally and Hagar Ramadan-Amin quickly secured the doubles point victory with a commanding 6-1 victory on court two.

Juniors Maria Guirguis and Valeriia Avdeeva finished up their doubles match shortly after in identical 6-1 fashion.

Straight-set victories from Avdeeva and Ramadan-Amin on courts five and four quickly clinched the Trojans the overall victory with a 4-0 lead.

Guirguis and freshman lefty Veena Nazar both won in three-set fashion with Nazar’s match marking her first collegiate victory.

“She’s very talented and fits in great with our team,” said head coach Rawia Elsisi. “She was a pretty high-ranking player over in Germany and I think she just needs to get more match-play and experience.”

The Rattlers managed a singular point in their 6-1 defeat with a win over Gabrielle Leslie on court one.

This past Saturday, the Trojans played host to a much scrappier opponent in North Alabama for their second home match.

Guirguis and Avdeeva dismantled their line one opponents 6-2, but the Lions responded with victories on courts two and three to snatch the doubles point and take the early lead.

The Lions secured wins in the next four lines of singles to come off the court and secured their victory with a 5-0 lead.

Both teams elected to finish up the remaining matches -- Avdeeva and Guirguis played some incredibly gritty third-set tiebreak tennis to put the Trojans on the scoreboard.

Avdeeva battled back after losing a tight first set 5-7 and seized control with a 6-3 victory to force a match tiebreak.

Avdeeva prevailed 10-7 to give the Trojans their first victory of the day.

Guirguis dropped an incredibly tight first set in a tiebreaker before storming back with a 6-0 second set.

Her opponent regrouped in the third set, which led to the two playing in a seven-point set-tiebreaker that would decide the match.

Guirguis held her nerve and utilized her deadly dropshot to grab a 7-3 victory to finalize the score at 5-2 North Alabama.

The Trojans will hit the road for matches at Mercer on Feb. 8 and Alabama State on Feb. 9 as they continue their non-conference schedule.