Men’s tennis season draws to a close in Rome

Troy Athletics photo

Noah Martens follows through on a shot on Troy’s senior day.

After opening the Sun Belt Tournament with its second win against the fifth-seeded Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, Troy men’s tennis fell to the number one-seeded Old Dominion Monarchs to end their tournament run.

The Trojans started off on fire against the Cajuns, with all-conference duo Nicolas Simkin and Noah Martens kicking doubles play off with a 6-2 win, and their fourth win in a row as a pair, in the No. 1 spot. Henrique de Brito and Luciano Alcocer would give the Trojans an early 1-0 lead with a 6-1 victory in the No. 3 spot.

The Trojans are 16-1 in the season when securing an early 1-0 lead.

Simkin stayed hot for the Trojans in singles, getting his fourth win in a row with a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the No. 2 spot to give the Trojans a 2-0 advantage. His partner in crime, Martens, also put another Trojan point on the board with a 6-1, 6-1 win to move the Trojan advantage to 3-0.

After the early onslaught from the Trojans, the Cajuns would comeback and level things at 3-3 before Luciano Alcocer clinched a 4-3 win for the Trojans with a 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-4 win at the No. 6 spot.

The Trojans would not find the same success against the Monarchs of Old Dominion as they would fall into an early 1-0 deficit before falling behind 3-0 later.

Noah Martens grabbed Troy’s first point in his 14th win of the season and sixth in a row to make it a 3-1 deficit and give the Trojans a light in the dark.

Alcocer would give the Trojans even more of a fighting chance with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 victory in the No. 6 spot to grab his 17th win of the season and bring the deficit down to 3-2.

Unfortunately for the Trojans, the Monarchs would win the next match 6-7, 6-3, 6-1 to end the Trojans season at 20-8 and punch their ticket to the Sun Belt Championship, which they would win to capture their third consecutive title.