Southern Miss
Alcorn State
Men's Tennis Team Earns Two More Home Wins
1/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss men's tennis team captured two more home victories Saturday, moving to 3-0 on the season with wins over Jacksonville State and Alcorn State.
"This weekend was good to get some matches and start the season by winning all three matches," Head Coach Zubin Engineer said. "The team had a good opportunity to evaluate their games. The focus is always on getting better and to keep improving after every match."
In the morning match, the Golden Eagles battled Jacksonville State to a 4-0 win. The match started with some robust doubles as Southern Miss took the doubles' point but not without a fight as both decisions had to be decided by a tie-breaker.
Daniel Merker and Tarun Surat defeated Vinicio Hadlich at and Liu Shao Chun 7-6 (5) at No. 2 while Chao-Yu Huang and Wen-Po Tseng knocked off Pedro Wagner and Mathias Chaim 7-6 (7) at the No. 1 spot. Jorman Reyes and Teeradon Tortrakul battled to a 6-6 tie with Austin McCormick and Jaryd Reese when the match was called.
Southern Miss took the momentum into singles' play, winning three of the six singles in taking the win. Surat, playing in the No. 1 slot, put the Golden Eagles up 2-0 after leading 3-0 when Wagner had to retire with an injury. Reyes then defeated McCormick 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 5 position before Merker clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 4 against Hadlich at No. 4.
In the second match of the day, Southern Miss defeated Alcorn State 5-0. The Golden Eagles took the opening point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Huang and Tseng defeated Nikita Kostikov and Nischay Rawal 6-4. Reyes and Tortrakul defeated Kilian Salgado and Y Yarbarough 6-1.
Rakshit Rishi started the Golden Eagles off with a win at No. 6 in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1 over Yarbarough. Reyes posted a win at No. 3 with a 6-0, 6-2 victory against Kostikov. Tseng clinch the match at No. 2 with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Vasudev Vijayaraman. Surat added the final point at No. 1 with a 6-4, 6-1 decision over Nischay Rawal.
The Golden Eagles are back in action on Jan. 30 when George Washington visits Hattiesburg for a 10 a.m. match.
