Men's Tennis Travels To Alabama For Two Matches

NEW ORLEANS – After opening up the 2017 campaign with a four-match homestand, the University of New Orleans men's tennis team hits the road for the first time this season to take on Troy on Sunday, Mar. 5. The following day, the road swing continues with a match at Alabama State.

The Privateers enter the match with a 3-1 overall record, defeating Nicholls in their last contest to start Southland Conference play 1-0. Sophomore Jeffrey Hsu leads UNO with a 4-0 singles record at the top position, and is the only player in the Southland Conference who has played three or more matches and is still undefeated in singles action. Senior Luis Albuquerque, juniors Giacomo Adoncecchi and Federico Staksrud plus sophomore Nicolas Kramer are all 3-1 in singles and doubles play.

"We have a strong team this year with depth," head coach Burzis Kanga said. "In singles play we do extremely well, we just need to continue to work on our doubles play. We have two tough matches ahead of us and the team is looking forward to it."

The Privateers' Alabama road trip begins with Troy, who sits at 4-6 overall with a match being played today. In their last outing, the Trojans bested Jacksonville State 4-3. Troy plays its best tennis in the third through fifth singles positions, where they boast a 14-9 record. Amer Bedwan is 7-0 in the spring in singles play, with a 2-1 mark in doubles to give him a team-best nine total victories.

"Troy is a great team," Kanga said. "They already have a marquee victory with a win over South Alabama. We have competed well against Troy in the past and I don't see that changing tomorrow."

UNO concludes its two-day road swing at Alabama State, who enter the match going 3-2 in their last five games most recently dropping a 5-0 decision to Arkansas. In last weekends' SWAC Round Up, the Hornets went 3-0 only dropping one game.

"Alabama State is always one of the top teams in the SWAC," Kanga said. "They won the league two seasons ago and made the conference tournament championship match last year. We cannot take them lightly or they can defeat us.

Following the road trip, the Privateers return to the University Tennis Center on Tuesday, Mar. 7 when they host the College of Charleston at 2 p.m.