Men's tennis makes strong semifinal run at ITA Southern Region

Troy participated in the ITA Southern Regional this past weekend after a double feature of tournaments last weekend. NCAA Championship bids were on the line as the Trojans faced teams from all across the southeast. 

"We're getting ready to go to Tuscaloosa, and we've prepared very well," said head coach Rolando Vargas. “The best teams in the region are all going to be there, and all our players have a spot. We're excited." 

On day one, the Trojans had some big wins, achieving a 10-2 overall record. Stephen Tavares Noale, Luciano Alcocer, Thiago Drozdowski and Louis Boilevin all won two matches to advance through the qualifying draw. This made Troy’s representation skyrocket all the way up to six in the main draw. 

Alcocer and Drozdowski were the only players to win an round of 64 match. The Trojans singles run ended in the round of 32 matches which took place on Saturday, but a doubles pairing for Troy made a historic run. 

While the duo Noale and Henrique de Brito fell in the doubles round of 32 to a team from Mississippi State including former Trojan Mario Martinez Serrano, one of Troy’s other teams made a strong run. 

The star duo ofAlcocer and Andres Pastor kept the Trojans dreams alive this weekend. They had a dominant 8-2 win over UAB in the round of 32, and upset the No. 1 -seeded duo from Auburn with an 8-3 victory.  

After this wild upset, the duo beat Louisiana 8-1 in the quarterfinal to advance to the semifinal round. 

This elite duo’s run did come to an end, though. After being the only non-SEC team in the semifinals, Troy lost to the pairing of Jacob Olar and Andrii Zimnokh from Alabama. Troy almost tied the second set up and brought it back after falling behind but eventually lost 6-2, 6-4. 

"Putting things in perspective after finishing the tournament, I see that we're making improvements," Vargas said. We're showing that we're capable of making things happen in the toughest situations.  

“It's good to see that we have depth – I'm proud of the guys." 

The performance this weekend shows the Trojans are not to be underestimated and can compete with and even defeat the best.