ORLANDO, Fla. – Improving his singles record to 3-1 on his freshman campaign, Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos took a decision at the No.2 singles spot as Georgia Southern fell to Troy, 6-1, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 6). Competing on neutral ground on the campus of Central Florida, Troy took the doubles point and five singles matches en route to maintaining a perfect record on the year, 3-0. The Eagles fell to 1-3 with the loss.
“We played a good team today that took advantage of opportunities given and Troy played a consistent match,” said head coach Justin Miles. “Hopefully we can improve on this match and come out strong against Central Florida tomorrow.”
The non-conference opponents tussled for the doubles point, drawing the decision to the wire on each court. Despite strong winds, Troy proved victorious at all three seeds to nab the early 1-0 lead, jumping out with an 8-3 triumph on court one. The Trojans took an 8-5 decision at the No. 3 seed, but squeezed out a win at the two seed in a tiebreak. Seniors Jayraj Jadeja (London, England) and Justin Flynn (Dublin, Ireland) drew their contest into a tiebreak over Xavier Masson and Branko Weber, falling 8-7 (4).
Mario Rolemberg extended Troy’s lead to two with a straight set decision at the five seed in singles play and Guilherme Sahadi pushed the Trojans to the brink of victory with a decision at the sixth seed. Aurelien Tave secured the match with a 6-2, 6-3 victory from No. 3, before Troy added two from the top and fourth seeds, respectively. Melian Puigventos (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) closed out the match for the Eagles notching his third dual match singles victory of the season, coming from the No. 2 seed. The freshman Eagle handled Weber in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, to seal a final 6-1 score.
Georgia Southern returns to the court and will look to rebound against Central Florida, Sunday, February 7. First serve is slated for 11 a.m. Troy 6, Georgia Southern 1 Records: Troy 3-0, Georgia Southern: 1-3
