Preview: Tennis teams to begin 2019 Sun Belt tournament play

Kaitlin Sells

After their last regular-season performance, both Georgia Southern tennis teams qualified and will be playing in the 2019 Sun Belt Championship tournament.

Men’s Tennis (15-10, 2-5)

Overall the men’s tennis team showed for a successful overall season, but struggled inside the conference. Only collecting two wins over Sun Belt opponents Appalachian State and Troy, the Eagles concluded conference play with a .286 percentage.

The Eagles went 77-57 overall in singles matches during the regular season, while showing for a 11-23 singles record in the conference. Junior Santiago Suarez held one of the more impressive singles record for the Eagles during regular season play, going 8-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

Doubles wise the Eagles are almost split with their overall record of 30-32 and their conference record on 7-10. Showing to be the most successful doubles team on the court is redshirt-senior JC Alcala and junior Stefano Di Aloy, as they’ve gone 5-3 overall and showing to be undefeated in the conference- collecting three Sun Belt wins. The dynamite doubles team is also on a four-game winning streak.

The GS men’s tennis team heads into the tournament at the No. 6 seed, and will compete in the quarterfinals on Friday at 1:30 p.m. The Eagles will first face the No. 3 seed Coastal Carolina, who beat the Eagles during regular season 4-2.

Women’s Tennis (12-12, 4-6)

The women’s tennis team went even on the overall season, showing for a 12-12 record, and almost split their conference record as well, going 4-6.

Singles wise the Eagles showed to be decently successful on the courts, going 78-53 overall and showing for a conference record of 27-26. Freshman Luisa Hrda has proven herself as she’s shown for a 17-2 overall record, an undefeated 8-0 conference record, and a win streak of 13 matches.

On the doubles court, GS has gone 41-28 overall and 14-13 in the conference, showing to be just over 50 percent. The duo to have found the most success this season seems to be senior Emilia Bujan and junior Arianne De Winter.

The women’s tennis team just barely made the cut for the tournament, ending the season in the No. 8 spot. Tournament play will begin Thursday at 1:30 p.m. for the Eagles as they face No. 1 seed Appalachian State who beat GS in the regular season 4-1.

Kaitlin Sells, The George-Anne Sports Editor, gasports@georgiasouthern.