Trojans Fall to 66th-ranked DePaul

Saturday, April 2

Murfreesboro, TN

9:00 a.m.

Troy University

(66) DePaul University

Photo by: Troy University

4/2/2011 3:42:17 PM | Tennis (M)

TROY falls into consolation bracket to face Middle Tennessee

By: Travis Jarome

Box Score

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (TroyTrojans.com) – The Troy University men's tennis team fell in their first round match of the Sun Belt Shootout to 66th-ranked DePaul, 4-0, on Saturday morning; forcing them into a consolation match against the host team Middle Tennessee later Saturday afternoon.

The Blue Demons, who are the top seed in the tournament, have won their last two matches and improve to 13-7; while the Trojans fall to 3-13 on the year with nine of those losses coming to ranked teams in 2011.

DePaul and Troy battled for the doubles point, before the Blue Demon pairs on the second and third courts were able to pull ahead and take a 1-0 advantage into singles.

The Blue Demons' Ben Hartman and Filip Dzanko were the first to finish and topped Sami Ghorbel and Niklas Jonsson 8-6 in the third position; before Matija Palinic and George Chanturia clinched the point with a 9-7 victory on the second court.

Needing just three points to secure DePaul's 13 win of the season the Blue Demons sustained their momentum and focus heading into singles. Newcomers, Chanturia and Dzanko quickly gave DePaul a 3-0 lead with their straight-set victories.

Chanturia tallied his 18th win of the season with a 6-1, 6-1 win over TROY's Jamie Eccleton at number two singles, while Dzanko defeated TROY's Mario Rolemberg 6-4, 7-5 at number five singles. Hartman won his fourth consecutive match, clinching the victory with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sami Ghorbel.

For all the latest news on Troy University Athletics, become a fan on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @TroyAthletics.