Troy Upends Coastal Carolina at SBC Men’s Tennis Quarterfinals

Thursday, April 14

Peachtree City, Ga.

9 a.m.

Troy University

Coastal Carolina

Troy Upends Coastal Carolina at SBC Men’s Tennis Quarterfinals

4/14/2022 2:33:00 PM | Tennis (M)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – The Troy men's tennis team rolled off its fourth straight victory and moved to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinals for the second consecutive year with a 4-1 win over Coastal Carolina Thursday morning at the Peachtree City Tennis Center.

The fifth-seeded Trojans (16-9) avenged an earlier loss to the fourth-seeded Chanticleers (10-11) by winning four singles matches after Coastal took the early advantage, winning the doubles point. The match featured dramatic victories across all the courts and was capped by the Trojans winning deuce points in their final three clinching matches.

"We started very slow and didn't play a very good doubles and didn't look good from an energy level," head coach Rolando Vargas said. "I told the guys during the break that we had to have good starts in singles, and we won the first sets on four of the courts, which was crucial. It gave us momentum, and then Pelayo and Vito winning their second sets was huge to extend the match."

Troy's winning streak coincides with a new doubles and singles lineup employed by Vargas. The doubles setback was the Trojans' first in the new setup; however, Christopher Tasker won his fourth straight match on court six since being inserted in the lineup two weeks ago. A senior, Tasker's match against Alabama A&M on March 31 was his first in singles since Feb. 12 at UNC Wilmington.

"Sometimes, to pick up a key win, you have to take some chances, especially at our level," Vargas said. "I think that we got into a little bit of a hole and lost some chemistry in doubles, and a change was necessary. It felt like we lost our edge a little bit in singles and needed to take a gamble and a risk, and it paid off."

Tasker put Troy's second point on the board with a 7-5, 6-4 win after freshman sensation Noah Martens tied the match at 1-all with a 6-3, 7-6 win on court four. Martens, who trailed 5-3 in the second set before rallying to win, improved to 16-7 on the year in dual matches, while Tasker is now 8-2 this spring.

"Noah's win was huge because it put all the pressure on Coastal," Vargas said. "It gave us a lift as we went on to win some key points on the other courts. We didn't play our best, but we wanted this win a lot. We are hungrier than ever and look forward to tomorrow's match against Georgia State."

Nicolas Simkin dominated the opening set by a 6-1 margin on court three before dropping the second set to Diego Giraldo, 6-4. In the deciding set, Simkin fell behind 2-0 before he rallied back to take the set 6-4 and pull Troy within a point of victory.

Troy's lone representative on the All-Sun Belt Team, Carles Anton, provided the final heroics with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win on court two to clinch the match. However, the final victory wasn't without drama, as Anton found himself down 4-2 in the third set before battling back to improve to 19-5 on the season.

The Trojans have another shot at redemption tomorrow against the top-seeded Panthers out of Georgia State. In the Sun Belt opener for both squads, Troy had two match points against Georgia State – one in doubles and one in singles – but couldn't close out the points in what turned out to be a 4-3 loss. First serve is set for 9 a.m., and the match will be televised on ESPN+.

Troy 4, Coastal Carolina 1

Singles
1. Antuna, Pelayo (TROY) vs. Huon, Bastien (CCU) 1-6, 6-2, 4-4
2. Anton, Carles (TROY) def. Garnier, Federico (CCU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
3. Simkin, Nicolas (TROY) def. Giraldo, Diego (CCU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
4. Martens, Noah (TROY) def. Tanabe, Daiki (CCU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
5. Llinares, Vito (TROY) vs. Rossi, Niccolo (CCU) 0-6, 6-3, 3-5
6. Tasker, Christopher (TROY) def. Mundt, Steve (CCU) 7-5, 6-4

Doubles
1. Giraldo, Diego/Mundt, Steve (CCU) def. Tasker, Christopher/Simkin, Nicolas (TROY) 6-2
2. Martens, Noah/Antuna, Pelayo (TROY) def. Rossi, Niccolo/Huon, Bastien (CCU) 6-1
3. Garnier, Federico/Tanabe, Daiki (CCU) def. Anton, Carles/Llinares, Vito (TROY) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,6,3,2)