Special to the MESSENGER

The Troy State men and women’s tennis teams’ strong play continued last weekend at the Westgate Collegiate Classic in Dothan, Alabama. The mens’ impressive individual performances came against schools like Florida State and Alabama, while the women swatted Jacksonville State in a round-robin format.

Two all-TSU finals matches highlighted the men’s tournament.

"Everybody’s mental effort was very good," tennis director Chad Hebert said. "All the players in the tournament were at a similar level, but I thought our mental effort was stronger."

"Anytime you can dominate an SEC school such as Alabama, you know you are moving in the right direction."

Jody Kane led the Trojans, winning his singles bracket in Flight B and pairing up with freshman Daniel Quincero to win the doubles final. Kane finished the day at 4-0 by defeating teammate and roommate Matias Mosso, 6-3 and 7-5.

"Jody had a great tournament," Hebert said. "He is getting back to the form of his sophomore year when he was beating SEC schools regularly. Matias is playing his best since he arrived on campus."

Playing on a clay surface for the first time, Kane said his preparation was key.

"I practiced a lot on a clay surface during the week, and I was looking forward to my first tournament on clay. A lot of preparation went into this tournament. I played determined, like I had something to prove."

Kane and Mosso said they felt awkward seeing a teammate across the net in the finals.

"It was quite different, but real exciting," Kane said. "We practice together, but playing in a match is different."

"It was pretty weird playing a friend, a teammate and roommate," Mosso added.

Kane and Quincero knocked off Mosso and Aman Gill in the all-TSU doubles final, 8-4.

Playing teammates in the finals did not change anything for Gill.

"A match is a match. I just approached the finals the way I would a normal match."

Kane’s two wins over Mosso has created a "friendly rivalry," and next time he and Kane get together, "I am 1-1 against him in singles tournaments, but it is just a game. I had a good weekend until the finals, but Jody deserved to win. He played consistent all weekend.

Quincero finished 3-1 in singles contests, including a win in the consolation finals over Alcorn State’s Ronald Theodore, 6-2, 6-1.

Quincero said his performance surprised him after his play in two previous tournaments. "I needed this. I had been losing in the last couple of tournaments, so I needed this to kind of cheer me up."

Gill reached the semifinals before losing to William Boiles of Alabama, 7-5 and 6-3. Yussef Migoko won his first match before failing to Florida Southern’s Miguel Hormazada in straight sets.

Talia Flores’s 3-0 mark in singles play highlighted the Lady Trojans’ battle against Jacksonville State. The duo of Jayne Hutchinson and Sally Linden won their matches in doubles competition. Hutchinson, Carolina Aravena and Marcia-Lynn van der Linde won two of three singles matches on the weekend. Linden finished 1-1 in singles play, while Aravena and Flores finished 1-1 in doubles action.

"I felt in a lot of ways we played down to the level of competition, and the matches were closer than I wanted," Hebert said. "But it was nice to beat them as soundly as we did."

Flores was pleased with her performance. "I played consistent and being positive the whole tournament was important. I kept balls in play, and I was attacking a lot."

Season play will conclude at the ITA Regional Championship on Nov. 2-5. Hebert hopes to continue the team’s progress into the spring. "We need to fill a couple holes, but if our mental effort continues to improve, we should be very good."