<em>Tennis begins conference play</em>

by Caleb Thomas

As tennis season kicks into gear, both the men’s and women’s tennis teams began Sun Belt Conference play. 

In matches against JMU and Old Dominion, the Trojan men went 1-1, bringing their overall record to 13-3. 

A tight showdown against the Dukes was decided by just the doubles point, with Troy winning 4-3 after the singles matches were split. Mario Martinez Serrano continued his stellar freshman campaign, winning his singles match and then pairing up with Francisco Erramuspe to get a doubles victory. 

Against nationally-ranked Old Dominion, the Trojans lost yet another close match, 4-3. The Monarchs won the doubles point to start the day and battled out a few very long singles showdowns.

In ODU’s court four and five wins, there were a total of three sets decided by tiebreakers. Noah Martens and Yeray Andres Pastor, playing in those matches, both lost tight contests after playing well.

The men’s team visits Louisiana on Saturday at 10 a.m. before traveling to Southern Miss for another 10 a.m. match on Sunday. 

The Trojan women have had a rough start to conference play, going 1-2 over the week against lots of southern schools to fall to 8-4 overall. The Trojans played the South Alabama, the Southern Miss and Georgia Southern over spring break.

On the road against South Alabama, Troy was swept 7-0 by the Jaguars, who have a dominant 11-1 record so far. It was a tough day in Mobile, Alabama as the Trojans only won two sets over the whole match.

The road trip continued, but the losing did not. In Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Troy earned its first conference victory with a 4-3 win over Southern Miss. After falling behind 2-0 early, Valeriia Avdeeva won her singles match and Maria Guirguis followed soon after to tie the match. The momentum continued from there, and victories from Kristina Kukaras and Hagar Amin fueled the Trojans’ win.

Georgia Southern visited Troy to begin what will be a six-match homestand, and the Eagles handed out yet another sweep. The 4-0 win left three singles showdowns unfinished, as the team tries to regroup for their next match against Appalachian State on Saturday and Marshall on Sunday. Both home matches start at 10 a.m.