ATLANTA--The No. 59-ranked
Georgia State men's tennis team breezed to a 5-2 victory over Samford on Sunday
afternoon at the Sharon Lester Tennis Center.
GSU
improved to 4-1 on the season with the victory and will play two matches next
weekend at the Blackburn Tennis Center. The Panthers take on Georgia Southern
on Saturday at 1 p.m. before hosting Nicholls State on Sunday at 9 p.m.
"We
are happy to earn a win here, I thought we started slowly in the match and that
is an area that we work on a lot," first-year head coach Joerg Barthel said. "I'm
a little disappointed that we came out with low energy at the beginning. The
energy picked up and we started playing a lot better as the match went on."
The
Panthers took a competitive doubles point with junior Thomas Cook and freshman
Andrew Zedde clinching the point with an 8-7 win at No. 3 doubles. The win was
the duo's first as a team. The win clinched the point after seniors Victor
Valente and Lucas Santa Ana won an 8-4 match at the No. 2 position.
GSU
stayed hot during singles play as Valente and Santa Ana breezed through quick
singles victories at the No. 1 and No. 4 position respectively. Santa Ana was
first off the court following a 6-2, 6-0 win over Samford's Alex Sajonz.
Valente, the No. 54-ranked player in the ITA National Singles rankings, followed
with a 6-2, 6-4 win at the No. 1 position against Zac Dunkle.
Junior
Thomas Cook clinched the win for GSU with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 victory at the No. 2
position. Freshman Sofiane Chevallier won a 6-4, 6-2 match against Garrison
Laduca to finish the match.
Georgia
State improved to No. 59 in the latest ITA National Team rankings. It is the
fourth time in the last seven seasons GSU has cracked the Top 60 during the
season. The Panthers jumped into the Top 60 last season twice at No. 54 (Apr.
14) and No. 55 (Apr. 21).
Visit
the men's tennis page on GeorgiaStateSports.com for a preview of next weekend's
matches.
www.GeorgiaStateSports.com
