Women’s tennis wins two conference matches at home

Brady Fitch Photo

Valeriia Avdeeva celebrates a point.

The Troy women’s tennis team took care of business on its home court this past weekend as they prevailed over Arkansas State and ULM.

Troy first squared off against Arkansas State in a marathon match that stretched over four hours.

The Red Wolves nabbed the doubles point from the Trojans via a tightly contested set tiebreaker.

Valeriia Avdeeva made quick work of her opponent 6-3, 6-4 on court three for her 13th consecutive match victory to even the score up at one all.

Avdeeva now possesses a 14-1 record this year and remains undefeated at home.

Troy found itself down 3-2 after a Maria Guirguis straight-set victory and losses on courts five and six.

The Trojans needed victories in both of the remaining singles matches, both of which went to a third-set tiebreaker.

Gabrielle Leslie clawed her way back into the match after dropping the first set and conquered her opponent in 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) fashion.

Leena Metwally staved off a major comeback by her opponent and clinched the 4-3 victory for the Trojans in a dramatic tiebreak finish 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6).

Troy had no trouble dispatching ULM the following morning, as it did not drop a single set during the contest.

Guirguis and Leslie both smothered their opponents in lopsided straight-set affairs for their second wins of the weekend.

Veena Nazar overpowered her opponent 6-1, 6-1 to increase the Troy lead to 3-0.

Nazar is 4-2 in Sun Belt Conference play this year and 5-6 overall in the spring season.

Finally, Metwally clinched another victory for the Trojans with a 7-5, 6-1 win on court four.

All remaining matches went unfinished, including the doubles matches which was delayed to accommodate weather concerns.

5-3 Troy will host its last two home matches of the season on Apr. 12 and Apr. 15 as they finish wrapping up regular season Sun Belt play.

Next up on the docket is 2-6 Louisiana this upcoming Saturday, followed by a makeup match with 2-5 Georgia Southern.