Tennis teams hit midseason stride over spring break

The GCSU tennis teams have been on a hot streak of late, with the men winning their last four matches to increase their streak to six overall and the women taking four of their last five.

Most recently, both teams traveled to North Georgia on March 30, and each came away with dominating 9-0 sweeps.

Sophomore Jerome Leborgne and freshman Johan Wadstein won at first doubles 8-6, while seniors Max Beliankou and Giovane Nucci swept their match 8-0 at second doubles. The Bobcats got the doubles sweep with a win from freshman Tyler Franks and sophomore Leo Bernardes at third doubles.

In singles play, the one-through-six lineup of Leborgne, Wadstein, Beliankou, Nucci, Bernardes and freshman Wictor Andersson, respectively, earned victories with little challenge from the Saints.

The women’s squad kept pace with the Bobcat men, also taking all nine matches from the Saints.

At first doubles, senior Diane Danna and junior Bertille Lion earned a tough 9-7 victory, while freshmen Kayla Barksdale and Michelle Lingner took their match 8-4 at second doubles. Freshman Linda Mosa and sophomore Adriana Acuna teamed for an 8-6 win at the third slot.

Danna was dominant at first singles with a 6-1, 6-1 victory, while Barksdale started slow at second singles, down 2-5 before her opponent retired to give her the default victory. Lion and Lingner were not challenged at third and fourth singles, respectively, while Mosa battled to a 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 tiebreaker victory. Acuna was dominant in her win at sixth singles.

On March 19, head coach Steve Barsby was able to give his more experienced men’s players some rest, sending his reserves to Macon to face Tuskegee. The younger lineup responded well in a 9-0 victory.

Beliankou teamed with sophomore Bobby Angelucci at first doubles, while Bernardes and Andersson won at second doubles. The Bobcats took third doubles by default.

Beliankou, Bernardes, Andersson and Franks earned shutout victories at the first four singles slots, respectively. Tuskegee forfeited its fifth and sixth spots, giving the Bobcats two more wins.

The women also earned a shutout win, with the pairs of Danna and Lion and Barksdale and Lingner earning doubles wins and Tuskegee forfeiting the third spot. Barksdale, Lion, Lingner, Mosa and Acuna all won at one-through-five singles, and the sixth spot was again forfeited.

On March 23, the women took on Montevallo with their traditional lineup, and came away with an 8-1 victory, the sole loss coming from Mosa at fifth singles.

Both teams traveled to Pensacola, Fla. for the White Sands Tournament on March 24 to take on North Alabama. The men came away with a 7-2 victory with the two losses coming at the top of the lineup. Leborgne and senior Joao Casagrande were no match for the strong Lions duo at first doubles, and Leborgne was also defeated at first singles by the Lions’ top player.

Wadstein earned GCSU athlete of the week honors for his four total wins at the White Sands Tournament. This was the first such honor for the promising freshman.

The women battled hard but dropped their match 5-4, getting wins from Danna at first singles and Lion at third singles, and stealing wins by default at third doubles and sixth singles.

On March 26, the men’s team defeated Delta State 7-2. In a rare occurance this season, Beliankou was involved in both losses, dropping second singles with Angelucci and losing his singles match to a common doubles opponent, dropping him to 10-3 at singles on the season.

The women also earned a victory, this time in upset fashion over the No. 27 Statesmen. Barksdale and Lingner came away with the sole doubles victory, while Danna and Barksdale earned victories at first and second singles, and Mosa took her match at fifth singles. A grueling match at third singles decided the outcome, with Lion outlasting her opponent 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to give the Bobcats the victory.

Both Bobcat teams are back in action today at Georgia Southwestern at 2 p.m.

Posted by Preston Sellers on Apr 1 2010. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry