NOTE: DUE TO COURT CONDITIONS AND INCLEMENT WEATHER, FRIDAY'S MATCH VS. BALL STATE HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team gets set to unwrap a busy slate of action as the Golden Eagles will hit the courts for three-straight days in the final tune up before OVC play begins. TTU (3-4) hosts USC Upstate Thursday afternoon and Ball State on Friday, before the Golden Eagles head back on the road for a Saturday tilt at Georgia Gwinnett. All three matches are slated to begin at noon CT.
TTU returns to Tech Tennis Courts for just the second time this season, following a 6-1 take down of Chattanooga back on Feb. 18 in the club's home opener. The win over the Mocs continued an impressive trend for Tech, who now boasts a 26-3 record in Cookeville over the last six years and change.
With three straight matches staring down on them, the Golden Eagles got somewhat of a taste as to what could be in store after playing on consecutive days for the first time all season last weekend. TTU split its pair of matches, knocking off Radford 4-3 on Mar. 5, before falling to No. 7 Wake Forest on Mar. 6.
In Saturday's match with the Highlanders, Tech's top of the lineup got the job done with victories in three of the top four singles matches. Sophomores Eduardo Mena (No. 1) and Marcos Bernardes (No. 4), along with freshman Guillermo Nicolas (No. 3) tallied wins in their respective matches, with Mena and Bernardes also teaming up to win one of Tech's two doubles matches as the Golden Eagles clinched the doubles point.
Mena's singles nod pushed the OVC's preseason top rated player to a perfect 6-0 in singles action, before the Bultrago del Lozoya, Spain native was tripped up in Sunday's battle with No. 7 Wake Forest, falling to No. 113 Romain Bogaerts, 7-5, 6-4.
Despite the loss, Mena was recognized as the adidas® OVC Male Tennis Athlete of the Week Tuesday afternoon, the sophomore's first weekly honor this season.
Mena has paced TTU with a 6-1 singles record, with Nicolas right on his heels with a 5-2 singles mark.
USC Upstate (3-8) heads to Cookeville with a little bit of momentum after snapping on a four-match slide with a 6-1 win over Chattanooga on Mar. 8. Senior Ramon Simonetti and freshman Ankush Arora finished the tilt perfect with the pair collecting a doubles win together, before each Spartan notched a singles nod as well.
The Simonetti-Aora doubles tandem is deadlocked with the duo of freshman Lenhard Haupt and sophomore Ignacio Garrido for the most doubles wins as a pair on the team with three, while senior Jamie Yates has set the Spartans' singles bar with seven victories this spring.
Tech and USC Upstate have locked up just one time in the all-time series, a Spartans' 4-2 victory in Cookeville back in 2010.
Ball State (5-4) comes to Tech Tennis Courts on a heater with wins in three of its last four matches, including a 5-2 victory over Butler in the club's last action on Mar. 5. The Cardinals raced out to a 3-0 advantage behind seizing the doubles point and singles nods by freshman Conner Andersen and junior Andrew Stutz. Fellow junior Lucas Andersen would go on to officially clinch the match for Ball State thanks to thrilling three-set win over Butler's Mikheil Khmiadashvil in the No. 1 slot. Lucas Andersen and Stutz also teamed up to win the No. 1 doubles position, a 6-4 decision over Khmiasdashvil and Mason Dragos.
Friday's matchup will mark the first between the two schools.
Members of the NAIA, Georgia Gwinnett College has been perfect this season, rolling off a 7-0 record in 2016. Before hosting Tech, the Grizzlies will play both William Carey and Cumberland on Friday as part of the GGC Invitational down in Lawrenceville, Ga.
Georgia Gwinnett captured the only match in the all-time series with TTU, a 6-1 home nod in 2014.
Admission to Thursday and Friday's matches at Tech Tennis Courts is free of charge.
