Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Louisiana and Old Dominion advance to Sun Belt Conference men's tennis semifinals

ROME, Georgia. Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Louisiana and Old Dominion battled Friday for the quarterfinals of the 2024 Sun Belt Conference men's tennis championship at the Rome Tennis Center. Each team has secured a place in the semi-final of the events which will be played on Saturday.

Friday's action featured an upset in which fifth-seeded Louisiana came from behind to defeat fourth-seeded South Alabama 4-3. Regular season co-champions Georgia Southern and Old Dominion also swept their quarterfinal matches 4-0.

The first semifinal game pits Georgia Southern against Louisiana at 10 a.m. EST. Second-seeded Old Dominion will face third-seeded Georgia State at 2 p.m. EST. The matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

Game 2: (1) South Georgia 4, (8) Coastal Carolina 0

The score of the box

Top-seeded Georgia Southern won early and often to advance to the tournament semifinals.

Coastal Carolina (9-14) failed to secure the point in doubles play despite the duo of Ryuya Ata and Carlos Berna Ruiz leading 5-4.

Georgia Southern (14-8) started the match by winning the doubles point as Laurent Julia Calac and Aaron James Williams defeated Cahill/Tripathi 6-3 on court three to start. Judson Blair and Pierre Mouesca defeated Toresan/Wayenburg 6-4 to give the Eagles the lead.

The Eagles used the momentum from the doubles to take an early 3-0 lead. Julia Calac won on court six 6-1, 6-0 and Sun Belt men's tennis player of the year Dimitris Paliouras won on court one 6-0, 6-3. Coastal forced a third set on court two, but Pol del Castillo came away with the victory (6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2) to advance Georgia Southern to the semifinals.

Game 3: (5) Louisiana 4, (4) South Alabama 3

The score of the box

Fifth-seeded Louisiana denied fourth-seeded South Alabama a return trip to the semifinals with four singles victories.

South Alabama (10-10) won the doubles point with victories on courts one and two. Rostislav Halfinger and Javier Montoya won 7-6 (7-5) on the second court to counter Louisiana's victory on the third court. Jack Clements and Braden Hannig won 7-5 on the first court to secure the early lead.

Louisiana (12-10) responded with two singles victories to take a 2-1 lead. Samuel Kyjaci won 6-4, 6-3 on court five while Alejandro Sanchez Gonzalez won 6-1, 7-5 on court one.

South Alabama responded with two singles victories as Hannig prevailed on court four by a margin of 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 as Harold van Raemdonck came back to win 2- 6, 6-4, 6-2. on court six to put the Jaguars within one game of a semifinal berth.

Louisiana's Vasil Dimitrov tied the score 3-3 with a 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-3 victory on court three. Trailing 5-2 in the third set, William Ribero won five straight games to give the Ragin Cajuns the victory on the second court.

Match 4: (2) Old Dominion 4, (7) Southern Miss 0

The score of the box

Southern Miss (7-11) led on a doubles court that went unfinished, while the Golden Eagles won a singles set.

Old Dominion (18-7) won the doubles point as Ravel's Cosme Rolland and Codie van Schalkwyk won 6-2 on court two and Yanis Moundir with Maxime Mereschal-Hay won 6-3 on court two. three.

Aryan Saleh won his match on court six 6-4, 6-3 to give the Monarchs a 2-0 advantage. Mareschal-Hay won her match on court five 6-4, 6-2 to put Old Dominion on match point. Rolland de Ravel secured victory on the first court 6-4, 6-2.

Game 5: (3) Georgia State 4, (6) Troy 1

The score of the box

Georgia State (11-12) took an early lead with the doubles point. The Troy duo of Bejamin Ambrosio and Carles Anton won on court three 7-4, before the Panthers took the point with back-to-back wins. Duos Gabriele Datie/Maxwell Weir and Naufal Kamaruzzaman/Diogo Morais won 7-5 and 7-6 (7-4) as Datie and Weir's tiebreak victory provided the doubles point.

Troy (19-7) responded with a quick singles victory as Carles Anton won 6-4, 6-1 on court two to tie the match. The Panthers responded with three straight set singles victories to seal the match.

Weir started the race on court five winning 6-3, 6-4. Morais followed on the third court with a 6-3, 7-5 victory. Datei sealed the match on court four in 6-4, 7-5 to send the Panthers to the semifinals.

2024 Sun Belt Men's Tennis Championship (Rome, Georgia)

First round Thursday April 18

Game 1 (8) Coastal Carolina 4, (9) James Madison 2

Quarter-finals – Friday April 19

Game 2 (1) South Georgia 4, (8) Coastal Carolina 0
Game 3 (5) Louisiana 4, (4) South Alabama 3
Match 4 (2) Old Dominion 4, (7) Southern Miss 0
Game 5 (3) Georgia State 4, (6) Troy 1

Semi-finals – Saturday April 20

Game 6 (1) Georgia Southern vs. (5) Louisiana 10:00 a.m. ET
Game 7 (2) Old Dominion vs. (3) Georgia State 2 p.m. ET

Championship – Sunday April 21

Game 8 Winner Game 6 vs. Game 7 Winner 1 p.m. ET