ATLANTA--The No. 75-ranked
Georgia State men's tennis team travels to Florida for two matches over the
Georgia State University spring recess with a Wednesday match at FAU and a
Friday contest at No. 70-ranked Miami.
The
Panthers (8-7) are looking to get back on the courts after their Monday morning
match vs. North Florida was rained out at the Blackburn Tennis Center. No
makeup will be scheduled for the match. GSU previously defeated the Ospreys 4-3
at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in January.
Georgia
State travels to Boca Raton, Fla., for Wednesday's conference showdown with FAU
at 2 p.m. The Panthers and Owls will meet for the 19th time in
series history but for the first time as Sun Belt Conference foes. GSU leads
the all-time series 10-8. Georgia State and Miami are meeting for the first
time since a Mar. 23, 2001 matchup the Hurricanes won 4-3 in Coral Gables, Fla.
The Panthers and Hurricanes meet this time on Friday at 11 a.m.
"We are excited to play in the state of Florida against FAU and Miami,"
first-year head coach Joerg Barthel said, "FAU is another Sun Belt team and we
look forward to playing them at their place. Miami is a nationally-ranked team
and an ACC program with a deep tennis history. We feel like we match up well
with them and it will be a close match that will come down to the very end."
FAU
is 5-9 this season with a 4-3 win against Sun Belt foe Troy in early February. The
Owls are led by senior Jose Fantova at the No. 1 position. Fantova owns a 5-4
record in singles play. Fantova pairs with sophomore Will Neuner at the No. 1
doubles position and owns a 5-1 record in the slot. The Owls will compete at
the MTSU Shootout event with Georgia State from Mar. 30-31 in Murfreesboro,
Tenn.
Miami
is ranked No. 70 in the latest ITA National Team rankings. The Hurricanes own
wins this season over No. 50 Rice (6-1), No. 75 Louisiana Lafayette (4-3), No.
55 USF (5-2), and No. 63 Georgia Tech (4-3). Friday's match will be the last
non-conference match for Miami before it begins ACC play to close the
regular-season. Junior Diego Soto leads Miami at the No. 1 singles position
while junior Gabriel Flores owns a five-match winning streak in the No. 2
singles slot.
Several
GSU student-athletes can rely on experience from the fall against Miami. Sophomore
Sofiane Chevallier won a 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 singles match against Miami sophomore
Henrique Tsukamoto and paired with junior Robert Schulze to defeat Miami's
Victor Mauz and Jack Murphy 8-3. GSU senior Victor Valente, ranked No. 67 in
the latest ITA National Singles rankings, defeated Flores by a 6-3, 6-2 score
in the fall. Valente and senior Lucas Santa Ana remained in the ITA National
Doubles rankings this week at No. 38.
"We
want to continue to improve our singles play and make sure we have six
competitive courts in every match," Barthel said.
Georgia
State is looking to bounce back from a 4-2 defeat at UAB last Wednesday. Santa
Ana and Chevallier delivered singles victories for GSU in the match. Santa Ana
earned his eighth singles win of the year while Chevallier won his second match
in his last three tries.
Visit
the men's tennis page following each match for a full recap and box score. Also
check the Georgia State men's tennis team's Twitter at "@GSUMTennis" for
updates on all results.
www.GeorgiaStateSports.com
