The Georgia Southern men’s tennis team won one out of its four matches in Texas last week, while the women lost to three tough schools throughout the state of Florida during spring break.

Men’s Tennis

The first match of the road trip for the men’s team was against Abilene Christian on Saturday, March 11 in Abilene, Texas. The Wildcats edged the Eagles, 4-3. The No. 1 singles and doubles points were taken by Abilene Christian.

A tense and hyper-competitive No. 1 singles match between GS junior JC Alcala and Abilene sophomore Josh Sheehy was eventually won by Sheehy, ending Southern’s hopes in the match. However, the No. 4, 5 and 6 singles matches were won by GS.

Freshmen Santiago Suarez and Diego Finkelstein both beat their opponents in three sets, and Eagle senior Dani Casablancas came back to win his match against Abilene junior Henry Adams in three sets, 4-6, 7-6, 7-5.

Next, the Eagles faced the Idaho Vandals and lost another close match, 4-3 after losing the doubles point on the same Saturday afternoon that they lost to Abilene. GS freshman Stefano Di Aloy, Suarez and Finkelstein won their singles matches, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.

The Eagles got a victory against the University of Incarnate Word Cardinals, 4-1, on Sunday, March 12. Di Aloy, Finkelstein, Casblancas, and junior Artemie Amari won singles points for the Eagles, and two singles matches (No. 1 and No. 3) did not finish.

On Saturday, March 18, the Eagles played to another tough 4-3 loss to UT Arlington in Arlington, Texas. The match was the Sun Belt Conference opener for the Eagles.

The doubles point ended up being the deciding point for the Mavericks (12-6), who are the reigning conference champions.

“We showed that we can hang with them and push them,” GS head coach Sander Koning told gseagles.com.

Every singles and doubles match was competitive against UTA, with no 6-0 or 6-1 sets anywhere throughout. Casablancas, Di Aloy, and Finkelstein outlasted their singles opponents en route to point-earning victories. Still the Mavericks prevailed on the extra boost of the doubles point.

The Eagles are now 15-8 this season.

The next match for the Eagles will be on the road against UAB in Birmingham, Alabama on Friday, March 24 at 11 a.m.

Women

Florida is an ideal spring break destination, but for the GS women’s tennis team, it meant tough treading in the waters of Florida universities.

The first match of the break for the Eagles was against Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers on Monday, March 13. The FGCU Eagles proved superior by winning every doubles and singles match en route to a 7-0 victory.

The second match of the road trip was in Miami against Florida International University, which was ranked No. 24 in the country. The Panthers (15-1) beat the Eagles, 4-0.

The Florida Atlantic Owls were the final GS opponent on the road trip, and the Eagles showed serious improvement. The Eagles took the doubles point behind two duos. senior Giulia Riepe and freshman Arianne De Winter won their doubles set, 6-2. GS sophmore Emilia Bujan and junior Ella Monsey also prevailed in their doubles set, 6-4.

The Eagles are now 9-5 this season after the three spring break losses. They will play two home matches this weekend against Sun Belt opponents. South Alabama will be at GS on Saturday, March 25 at noon. Rival Georgia State will be in Statesboro Sunday, March 26 for a match with the Eagles at 4 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Socha