Men’s tennis team cruises through March road stretch

After losing back-to-back home matches earlier this month, the Troy men’s tennis team used an extended road stretch to put together a four-match win streak that was snapped Sunday.

The Trojans own a 9-9 spring record thanks to a 4-0 win over Presbyterian, a 4-1 win over Coastal Carolina and a 4-0 loss to William and Mary.

Thursday’s matchup with Presbyterian was the third of a four-match Trojan road trip through South Carolina, all of which resulted in wins for Troy.

The Trojans dominated in both the singles and doubles phases, winning the doubles point with two wins and one loss before taking the 3-0 sweep in singles play.

Troy’s duos of Andy Lau/Amer Bedwan and Pelayo Antuña/Mustapha Belcora both won their respective matches, with Oskar Michalek and Jiaqi Duan being the only pair to lose their match.

Singles play was cut short with only three of the six total matches being played to the finish.

The Trojans won all completed matches, giving them the shutout win. Lau, Bedwan and freshman Antonio Selma all earned their wins in two sets.

The next day, the Trojans traveled to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to take on Sun Belt foe Coastal Carolina for Troy’s third conference match this season.

The Trojans were met with similar success, losing just one singles match on their way to a 4-1 win.

Troy switched up its doubles pairings and secured wins in the two doubles matches that were completed. Michalek and Belcora defeated the Chanticleers’ Paul Boulay and Lawrence Perrin 6-3, and Duan and Antuña topped Zak Talic and Francesco Cori-Gamero by the same score.

In singles, Antuña and Duan battled for three-set wins while Belcora was able to dismantle CCU’s Juan Castellanos by a score of 6-2, 6-3. Lau was the only Trojan to lose his singles match.

Two days later, the traveling Trojans then went north to Williamsburg, Virginia, to take on William and Mary.

There, Troy never could get much going and was swept in both the singles and doubles phases of the contest.

Troy will return to action Sunday when it takes on another conference opponent in Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Georgia.

After almost a two-week break, the Trojans will come home for a Friday doubleheader against Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Alabama A&M on April 6.