ROME, Ga. – The tournament’s top two seeds will meet for the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Tennis Championship at the Rome Tennis Center on Sunday. The Regular Season Co-Champions No. 1 Georgia Southern and No. 2 Old Dominion each won their semifinals.
No. 63 nationally ranked Georgia Southern defeated fifth-seeded Louisiana 4-0 in the first semifinal on Saturday. No. 56 nationally ranked Old Dominion returns to the title tilt after a 4-0 victory over third-seeded Georgia State.
Sunday’s Sun Belt Conference Men’s Tennis Championship is scheduled for a 1 p.m. EST start and the action will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Match 2: (1) Georgia Southern 4, (5) Louisiana 0
Box Score
Top-seeded Georgia Southern won the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead in the first semifinal.
Fifth-seeded Louisiana (12-11) led on a singles court during the match.
Georgia Southern (15-8) started the match with the doubles point on courts one and two. Judson Blair and Pierre Mouesca won on court two, 6-1, as Dimitris Paliouras and Pol del Castillo won 6-4 on court one to secure the point.
Three straight-set victories lifted the Eagles to their first Sun Belt Men’s Tennis Championship appearance. Del Castillo won 6-2, 6-3 on court two as Sun Belt Player of the Year Dimitris Paliouras won 6-3, 6-4 on court one. Blair secured the match point on court five winning 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
Match 3: (2) Old Dominion 4, (3) Georgia State 0
Box Score
Second-seeded Old Dominion won the doubles point and battled through singles to return to the Sun Belt Men’s Tennis Championship match for the second consecutive year.
Connor van Schalkwyk and Jakob Cadonau won on court one doubles 6-2, before Cosme Rolland de Ravel and Codie van Schalkwyk won 6-1 on court two for the early point.
Georgia State (11-13) contested nearly every singles court with a pair of set wins and three tiebreak sets.
Old Dominion (19-7) took a 2-0 lead as Connor van Schalkwyk won on court two 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). His brother Codie van Schalkwyk added another point with a win on court four 6-1, 1-6, 6-1. Rolland de Ravel finalized the Monarchs’ return trip to the championship match on court one with a 6-4, 7-5 victory.
2024 Sun Belt Men's Tennis Championship (Rome, Ga.)
First Round – Thursday, April 18
Match 1 – (8) Coastal Carolina 4, (9) James Madison 2
Quarterfinals - Friday, April 19
Match 2 – (1) Georgia Southern 4, (8) Coastal Carolina 0
Match 3 – (5) Louisiana 4, (4) South Alabama 3
Match 4 – (2) Old Dominion 4, (7) Southern Miss 0
Match 5 – (3) Georgia State 4, (6) Troy 1
Semifinals - Saturday, April 20
Match 6 – (1) Georgia Southern 4, (5) Louisiana 0
Match 7 – (2) Old Dominion 4, (3) Georgia State 0
Championship - Sunday, April 21
Match 8 – (1) Georgia Southern vs. (2) Old Dominion – 1:00 p.m. ET