Men’s tennis takes on ITA Regionals

Troy men's tennis competed in the ITA Regionals , at the Yarbrough Tennis Center last week. The Trojans saw success with Gabriel Garay and Luciano Alcocer advancing to the doubles semifinals.

The duo defeated Louisiana's Nikola Kolyachev and David Simeonov, 8-5, in the quarterfinals earlier on day four of the tournament. During the semifinals, Garay and Alcocer fell 6-1, 7-5, to Alabama's Aleksander Blus and Theo Hegarty.

For the singles matches on day four, Ausias Martin Melo beat UAB's Everette Minshew, 6-1, 6-,1 in the R128 round of pickup matches. Lenny Galley took on Alabama's Antonio Voljavec and won 7(10)-6(8), [10][5].

"Tough conditions indoors with it being rainy, but I think that the team stepped up at the right time, and we just got to keep developing the team,” said head coach Rolando Vargas. “We just got to keep believing in ourselves and get this experience that's so valuable."

As for the other duos who made an impact throughout the tournament, Ryusei Miyazato and Galley beat North Alabama's Rytis Razminas and Jip Langerhuizen, 8-5, on day three in the R64 round. The duo faced off against UAB's Ondrej Valek and Juan Pablo Valdez Guzon in the next round, winning that court based on a walkover due to an injury.

Louis Boilevin and Henrique de Brito beat Southern Miss’s Jay Temming and Ritabrata Sarkar, 8-5, before winning 8(7)-7(5) against Louisiana's Samuel Kyjaci and Gianluca Filoramo in the next round.

For singles play, Til Zimmermann defeated Samford's Parker Free, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, in the E-R64 round. After advancing to E-R32, Zimmermann won that match based on a bye. Galley then took to the court again and beat Jacksonville State's Brayden Helms, 6-0, 6-0, before losing 6-3, 6-2 in his match against North Alabama's Ethan Dasset.

De Brito took on Louisiana's Gianluca Filoramo and was successful in ending the match 6-4, 7(7)-6(4). De Brito fell 1-6, 3-6 in his next match against Alabama's Aleksander Blus. Thiago Drozdowski won on his court, beating Alabama A&M's Minhoon Lee, 7(7)-6(3), 6-2. Drozdowski also dropped his next match up 1-6, 5-7 against UAB's Axel Frechet.

Advanced through his qualifying match on a bye. He lost his second match up against North Alabama's Stephan Tavares Noale advanced through his qualifying match on a bye. He lost his second match against North Alabama's Rytisdue, with him retiring due to an injury. defeated UAB's Axel Frechet, 7-5, 6-0, and Louis Boilevin won 6-4, 6-3 against

Louisiana's Nikola Kolyachev. Both Trojans advanced to the next round but came up short.

"Overall, it was a good tournament in singles," Vargas said. "Obviously, we had Boilevin and Miyazato being the highlights, winning their first main match and having battles in the second one.”In the R64 round, Miyazato defeated UAB's Axel Frechet, 7-5, 6-0, and Louis Boilevin won 6-4, 6-3 against Louisiana's Nikola Kolyachev. Both Trojans advanced to the next round but came up short.

"Overall, it was a good tournament in singles," Vargas said. "Obviously, we had Boilevin and Miyazato being the highlights, winning their first main match and having battles in the second one.”

Troy concluded the tournament 23-16 overall. The Trojans' next matchup will be on Thursday, Oct. 29, as they compete in the UTR College Invitational at the Rome Tennis Complex in Rome, Georgia.