The men’s and women’s tennis teams were in home action over the weekend, as the women played on Friday, Feb. 1, and Saturday, Feb. 2, before the men played their season-opening match on Feb. 3.
A clean sweep for the men led to an opening victory as the Owls defeated the University of Connecticut 7-0.
The weather delay did not stop the Owls from making their mark early on, taking the doubles point with two straightforward wins.
Last year’s Atlantic Sun All-Freshman selection Bryan Triana teamed up with junior Drew Lahey to win a tight 7-5 set before the next pairing sealed the point for the Owls.
The two seniors on the team played first and won in straight sets, establishing their leadership.
Former All-Freshman Lucas de Torres Curth won 6-2, 6-0 before ASUN Player of the Year Fermin Calvo Barcelo won 6-2, 6-0.
After three more straight-set victories, Triana played in the tightest match of the day, falling in the first set before winning the second, and winning the final set 10-4.
“Today was a great start for the guys,” Director of Tennis Matt Emery said. “The ones that got ahead did a great job of slamming the door, and Bryan, who lost the first set, came back and won in three.”
The women’s team looked to win their first match of the season, but fell short 6-1 to the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Friday before losing 5-2 to the University of North Carolina Wilmington on Saturday.
On Friday, freshman Kendall Nash won the lone point for the Owls against the Blazers winning 6-2, 6-4 for her first career singles victory for KSU. Fellow freshman Juliana Castellanos played to a third-set tiebreaker before falling 10-8.
KSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead after Castellanos picked up her first collegiate singles match win on court one. She achieved a 6-4 lead in the first set before winning the second set 6-2.
Nash also led the Owls in the singles competition, winning in a back-and-forth match at court two. She was down in the first set 1-6 before winning the next two games 6-4, 6-2 to win the match.
UNCW quickly made a comeback with wins on courts three, four, five and six. On court three, Junior Aspen Jarrett tried to make a come back after giving the opponent a 6-2 lead. Jarrett took the second set 6-4, but fell short in the third set to give UNCW the point.
The remaining matches in both the singles and doubles competition were played out and the Seahawks continued to win.
“We were extremely pleased with the effort our girls put in today,” Emery said. “When they compete like they did today we have a chance to win every time we step on the court.”
The women’s team will be back in action on Sunday, Feb. 10, as they travel to take on Alabama, while the men’s team travels south to Georgia Tech to play the Yellow Jackets on Friday, Feb.8.
