Troy University Athletics
Trojans Outlast Blazers
4/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? The Troy University tennis team traveled to Birmingham on Wednesday to take on UAB and came home with a 4-3 victory in hand.
The win was the first for Troy over the Blazers in head coach Eric Hayes' seven years at the helm of the Trojans.
Although the win was huge for the program, it wasn't easy. The Trojans (6-11) had to come from behind to capture the win as they lost the doubles point and lost five of the six first sets in singles play. Four of the six singles matches went to decisive third sets but the Trojans were able to outlast UAB.
The Blazers (8-10) jumped out to an early lead as they swept the doubles point from Troy. First, Aurelien Tave and Xavier Masson lost to Daniel Moser and Tyrone Ewels of UAB at number three, 8-4.
At number two, Brian Ly and Alex Emery defeated Troy's Benjamin Chomette and Bastian Maucher, 8-6. Then, at number one, Mario Silva and Branko Weber lost to UAB's Dennis Ehrlich and Slawomir Szeremeta, 8-7.
Needing a strong showing in singles, it initially looked as though the Trojans wouldn't have one. Of the six first sets, Troy lost five.
The one first set that the Trojans did win came from freshman Weber at number two. Weber went on to win his match in straight sets over Ly, 6-4, 6-1. Weber's victory tied the match up 1-1.
The next decision went to the Blazer's when Ewels defeated Maucher at number five, 6-4, 6-3. However, the Trojans tied the match up again when Tave ran his singles record to 10-5 on the season by defeating Dan Cornei at number one, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
The Blazers took the final straight set match of the day at number three when Moser defeated Troy's Chomette, 7-5, 6-4. The win gave UAB a 3-2 lead.
With two singles matches still on the courts, Troy needed to capture both to claim the victory, and that is exactly what they did. The Trojans lost the first set in each match, but were able to win the second and third sets, along with the match.
First, junior Guilherme Sahadi defeated the Blazer's Thomas Petrich at number six, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
With the match tied at 3-3, Troy turned to a freshman to clinch the match. Xavier Masson dropped the first set, then took a close second set, and clinched the match by winning the third set convincingly. Masson defeated Emery at number four, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Troy will look to build on the momentum gained on Wednesday when they play host to New Orleans on Thursday at the Lunsford Tennis Complex at 2:00 p.m.
