Tennis squads can’t get past Cougars in PBC tournament

Both GCSU tennis teams came up short in last week’s Peach Belt Conference tournament in Jonesboro, as the men and women each fell to teams from Columbus State. The No. 30 Lady Bobcats dropped their match against the Lady Cougars, 5-1 in Friday’s first-round action, while the Bobcats lost 5-0 to the Cougars in Saturday’s second-round pairing.

Senior Diane Danna delivered the women’s team its lone singles win, as the No. 48 singles player knocked off No. 22 Loriane Favoretto in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-1. Danna garnered a first-team singles selection to the all-conference team. GCSU fell 3-0 in doubles action. Danna and junior Bertille Lion, both from France, dropped their match, 8-1 at first doubles. The loss dropped the French pair to 12-10 on the season, good enough to earn them a second-team all-conference selection. Also at second doubles, freshmen Kayla Barksdale and Michelle Lingner fell 8-1. At No. 3 doubles, sophomore Adriana Acuna and freshman Linda Mosa were topped 8-0. The Bobcats finished their season at 11-11 overall with a 6-6 mark in the conference.

The No. 14 men’s team started off the tournament in winning fashion, topping No. 12 Lander for the second time in three days, 5-1 in Friday’s first round match. Senior Joao Casagrande and sophomore Jerome Leborgne won an epic 9-8 battle over Levan Clark and Pierre Frances in first doubles, the third straight win for the duo. Sophomore Leo Bernardes and freshman Johan Wadstein won 8-6 at third doubles, while seniors Max Beliankou and Giovane Nucci fell 8-5 at second doubles.

The Bobcats got victories at No. 2, 3 and 5 singles to close out the victory. Wadstein won after leading 4-1 in the first set at second singles, when his opponent retired due to injury. Bernardes won 6-2, 6-1 in fifth singles, while No. 49 Beliankou clinched the win with a 6-2, 6-1 victory in third singles.

Things didn’t go as well for the Bobcats (15-6, 5-4) in Saturday’s second-round action, as they fell 5-0 to the No. 10 Cougars. Leborgne and Casagrande fell 8-4 in the top doubles slot, while Beliankou and Nucci fell 9-7 in the second position. Bernardes and Wadstein then fell 9-8 at third doubles. Nucci lost at fourth singles 6-2, 6-4, and Bernardes was dropped to 14-4 on the season, losing 6-2 and 6-3. Leborgne was named second-team all-conference in singles play.

As of this past Wednesday, the men’s team was still awaiting to hear its fate concerning the NCAA Southeast Regional Tournament, which will be held May 6-8.

Posted by Scotty Thompson on Apr 23 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