HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Facing one of the top teams in the state, Alabama A&M (1-4, 1-1 SWAC) dropped a 7-0 decision to Troy (13-1, 0-0 SBC) in an NCAA Division I men's tennis match on Friday, March 5.
Taking on a team having won six straight, the Bulldogs fell behind early as the Trojans took the doubles point with a pair of impressive wins.
Redshirt-senior
Gjorgji Popovski (Skopje, Macedonia) and junior Cheng Yang Chang (Koahsiung, Taiwan) fell 6-1 at the No. 2 spot while juniors
Rodrigo Arana Rios (Playa Del Carmen, Mexico) and
Panji Setiawan (South Jakarta, Indonesia) dropped a 6-2 decision to Nicolas Simkin and Christopher Tasker.
Sophomore
Natiphat Mulada (Korat, Thailand) and senior
Fermin Ruiz Crespo (Mollina, Spain) then took down Vito Llinares and Andy Romero by a 6-4 score to close out doubles.
In singles play Arana Rios dropped a 6-0, 6-0 to Manuel Bernard before Setiawan gave Simkin all he could handle at No. 5 before falling 7-6, 7-6. Troy would then lock up the match victory as Amer Bedwan defeated
Fermin Ruiz Crespo at No. 3.
From there, Popovski put up a fight at No. 1 against Carles Anton before succumbing to a 6-3, 6-4 line and
German Ruiz Crespo and Chang would fall by 6-2, 6-2 and 6-1, 6-4 scores at No. 6 and No. 4, respectively to reach the final margin of 7-0.
The Bulldogs are right back in action tomorrow as they host Samford in a rescheduled contest from February 6. First serve is set for 2 p.m. at the Huntsville Tennis Center.
TROY 7, ALABAMA A&M 0
Doubles
No. 1 Nicolas Simkin/Christopher Tasker vs.
Panji Setiawan/
Rodrigo Arana Rios 6-2
No. 2 Amer Bedwan/Carles Anton def.
Gjorgji Popovski/Cheng Yang Chang 6-1
No. 3
Fermin Ruiz Crespo/
Natiphat Mulada def. Vito Llinares/Andy Romero 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
No. 1 Carles Anton def.
Gjorgji Popovski 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 Manuel Bernard def.
Rodrigo Arana Rios 6-0, 6-0
No. 3 Amer Bedwan def.
Fermin Ruiz Crespo 6-4, 6-0
No. 4 Nicolas Simkin def.
Panji Setiawan 7-6, 7-6
No. 5 Vito Llinares def. Cheng Yang Chang 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 Christopher Tasker def.
German Ruiz Crespo 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 5, 3, 1, 6, 4
