By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team is revving up for a busy weekend on the courts, as the Golden Eagles will embark on back-to-back road matches with a Saturday OVC clash at Tennessee State and a Sunday non-conference get-together at No. 65 Georgia State. Both matches are scheduled to start at noon CT.
A look at Tennessee Tech
After starting the year 1-10 as part of a rigorous non-conference ledger that featured contests against six nationally-ranked opponents, the Golden Eagles have won two of their last three affairs. Tech (3-10, 1-0 OVC) opened up its Cookeville slate with a 4-3 victory over Chattanooga in the home opener on Mar. 31, before following that up with a 6-1 triumph over against Eastern Illinois in the first OVC battle of the season on Apr. 2 for the club's first winning streak of the spring.
The Golden Eagles ended last week's busy stretch with a 6-1 loss at Alabama on Apr. 3 in Tech's sixth matchup against a "Power 5" opponent in 13 tilts this year.
Tech has been able to play its last two matches with six available Golden Eagles after having to play shorthanded with a rash of injuries in four of the previous five affairs. Evzen Holis returned to the lineup in TTU's OVC-opening win over EIU on Saturday and claimed a straight-set singles victory in the No. 3 spot.
Elias Grubert, Mika Berghaus, Carlos Vicente and Jun Sasagawa all went 2-1 during solo action over the past week, with Vicente serving as the only Golden Eagle to capture a point in Sunday's tangle at Alabama. Grubert and Berghaus did their damage in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots respectively. The pair join Andre Rodeia for the TTU team lead with four singles wins apiece. Berghaus and Grubert are also the Golden Eagle leaders with four doubles victories each.
A look at Tennessee State
Just like the Golden Eagles, the Tigers (3-14, 0-1 OVC) are also coming off a 6-1 loss to the University of Alabama in the club's last match, which took place in Nashville way back on Mar. 27. TSU's lone OVC matchup of the year came on Mar. 25 in a 5-2 home loss to Belmont.
Tennessee State's three victories this year have all been at home behind a 6-0 nod over Christian Brothers on Mar. 18, a 5-2 triumph against North Carolina Central on Mar. 10 and a 4-1 win over Cumberland on Feb. 19.
Nil Moinet was the only Tiger to claim a win in the club's last clash against Alabama, with the 6-foot-1 product out of the Caribbean French West Indies securing a straight-set decision out of the No. 4 slot. Moinet enters the get-together with the Golden Eagles having seized three of his last four singles bouts.
A look at No. 65 Georgia State
Sunday's meeting with Tech will mark the regular-season finale for the nationally-ranked Panthers, a club that comes into the contest having won three in a row thanks to a 4-2 victory at Georgia Southern on Thursday and back-to-back 4-3 nods at Presbyterian on Apr. 3 and at Coastal Carolina on Apr. 2. Thursday's victory over Georgia Southern concluded a five-match road swing that saw the Panthers (14-7, 5-1 Sun Belt) go 4-1 over the stretch.
Harvey Maughan's 14 singles wins are the most on the squad, with the 6-foot-3 senior appearing in each of the top five spots in the lineup, most frequently at in the No. 2 position where he has gone 5-3 this spring. Vazha Shubladze is second on the team with 13 solo triumphs, playing exclusively in the top spot in the order where the 6-foot senior has posted a 13-7 mark.
Andrei Duarte and Roberts Grinvalds are GSU's top doubles tandem. The pair is nationally ranked and is sitting at 13-5 during doubles play this spring.
Inside the series
Tennessee Tech is a perfect 33-0 in the all-time set with Tennessee State, which includes four-straight 7-0 victories. The Golden Eagles have dropped only five points all-time, and never more than one in a single match, in a series that dates back to 1989.
Georgia State leads the all-time series 9-3 over the purple and gold. The Panthers have won four straight in the set, including a 4-3 triumph in Atlanta in the last meeting on Mar. 10, 2015. Tech's last victory over GSU was a 5-2 nod in Cookeville on Feb. 13, 2010.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
