62nd-ranked Trojans Open Season at 27th-ranked FSU

Tuesday, January 18

Tallahassee, FL

2:00 p.m. (EST)

Troy University

(27) Florida State University

62nd-ranked Trojans Open Season at 27th-ranked FSU

1/17/2011 4:22:11 PM | Tennis (M)

Troy returns just three players from last year's Sun Belt Championship team

By: Travis Jarome

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The 62nd-ranked Troy University men's tennis team begins defense of their Sun Belt Conference Championship on the road Tuesday afternoon, facing 27th-ranked Florida State in non-conference action.

The match against Florida State is the first of six matches this season for the Trojans against ranked competition. Also on the 2011 schedule for the Trojans are Auburn (31), Alabama (34), Miami (44), North Carolina State (57) and Central Florida (74). All of the matches against ranked teams take place on the road, with the match against North Carolina State being part of the Kick-Off Classic in Gainesville.

Troy, 20-5 last season, returns just three players with extensive playing experience from last season. They will look to replace their top two singles players, as well as their fourth and sixth seeded players from last season's championship run.

However, senior Mario Rolemberg returns for his fourth year on the courts for head coach Eric Hayes, fresh off a performance that earned him All-Conference honors in doubles a season ago. The Trojans also return junior Branko Weber at number three singles and Anas Rouchdi. As a freshman last season, Rouchdi was used as a doubles specialist. However, this season, he has come on strong and played well in singles play in the fall circuit.

Meanwhile, Florida State has senior Clint Bowles ranked No. 37 in the nation in singles and Vahid Mirzadeh at No. 42 in singles. Sophomore Connor Smith is coming off of a 5-1 record at the Illini Open last weekend to be ranked No. 20 in the Southeast region by the ITA.

The Seminoles played last week at the Illini Open in Sarasota, Fla., where in addition to Smith, Mirzadeh finished the weekend with a 4-2 combined record in singles and doubles. Sophomores Anderson Reed and Andres Bucaro also finished the tournament with a 4-2 record.

Troy and Florida State have met twice before, with the Seminoles winning both matches. The teams first meet in 1948, in the Seminoles first season, where they won 8-1. The teams last meet in 1999 when Florida State won 5-2.

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