Troy University Athletics
Troy Ventures South to Face North Florida
2/13/2009 6:00:00 AM | Tennis
Both the men's and women's tennis teams from Troy University will be spending Valentine's Day away from campus, venturing south to face Atlantic Sun foe North Florida in doubleheader action Saturday.
The Troy (2-2) women will be looking to bounce back after consecutive losses on the road to SEC powers Ole Miss and Mississippi State last weekend. The Trojans lost to Ole Miss 7-0, before falling in a heartbreaker to Mississippi State 4-3.
Saturday's match against North Florida will be the second time this season that the Trojans have faced a team from the Atlantic Sun Conference, defeating USC Upstate 5-2 on a chilly opening night to the season at the Lunsford Tennis Complex back on January 30.
In singles action so far this spring, Caroline Jouanin has recorded a 3-1 record playing at the number six position for the Trojans - with her only loss coming at Ole Miss last weekend. Meanwhile, a pair of players are 2-2 on the young season led by Annabelle Bares at number two and Stephanie Vieira at number five singles. The remaining players - Mirte De Bakker, Rawia Elsisi and Leonie Guijt have all won singles matches this season.
On the doubles side of the net, the team of Elsisi and Guijt lead the way at number one with a 2-1 record; while the other two doubles teams are 1-2 on the season. The fourth match in doubles was postponed at Louisiana-Lafayette due to weather.
The Trojans will be looking to knock off a North Florida team that is 3-0 on the young season; and will look to build on the momentum of last season's 5-2 victory over the Ospreys to halt the losing skid.
“We know their team pretty well, and we know this is going to be a very difficult match," North Florida coach Rodrigo Puebla said of facing Troy this weekend. "They always have a good team and are usually ranked at some point during the season. All the girls must come out and play their best tennis to get the win.”
Meanwhile, on the men's side, the Trojans (1-4) will be looking to ride their momentum of a 4-3 victory over Nicholls State last weekend in Jacksonville looking for their second consecutive victory. After dropping its first three matches of the season to Southeastern Conference schools, Troy suffered a close decision in its home opener to Atlantic Sun Conference member USC Upstate, 4-3, to close play in January.
The Ospreys sprinted to a 2-0 start before sliding in its last two tries. UNF emerged with a 4-3 win against Georgia State ? led by junior Federico Levi's straight-set win over a nationally-ranked opponent ? in its only home play of the season.
This season the Trojans are led by the play of Bastain Maucher early on. In singles play Maucher has recorded a 2-2 record playing in the number four through six positions, but he is 2-0 at the number six singles position. He is also 2-3 in doubles competition, including a 2-2 record with teammate Aurelien Tave at the number three position. Tave has recorded a 2-3 record in singles play, playing all five matches at the number two position.
Both matches begin at 10 am in Jacksonville.
