Titan tennis teams open fall season at Panthers Invitational

The Eastern Florida State College tennis teams will open the fall season at the Panther Invitational this weekend.

The Titan men's team will play its first official match as a program while the women's team open with high expectations.

 "We were fortunate to bring in such a talented class of players, so I'm excited to see this group take the court and represent EFSC this weekend," Eastern Florida State College tennis coach Jerry Thor said. "I think opposing coaches are really going to notice the jump in level that's happened here."

In men's doubles, the Titans will field three teams with Eduardo Garcia and Andreas Wejs in the first flight against a Florida Tech team starting at 4:30 p.m. at the Kiwi Tennis Club. In Flight 2, held at the Eau Gallie Yacht Club, Jesus Amezcua and Samir Chikhaoui will play a team from Florida Southern at 4:30 p.m.

In the third flight, Maximiliano Faundez and Pablo Munoz face a Florida Tech team at 4 p.m. at DeSoto Tennis Center.

On the women's doubles side, five teams will compete beginning at noon. Armelle Cerdan and Josephine Karcher are in the first flight and will face a team from Palm Beach Atlantic at the DeSoto Tennis Center at noon. The finals are slated for 2 p.m. In Flight 2, Filda Badi and Valeria Arevalo face a Palm Beach Atlantic squad while Katharina Drebka and Lea Stormer play a team from Florida Tech.

In Flight 3 at the Kiwi Tennis Center, Giulianna Hull and Luisa Varon will open at noon against a team from Eckerd College and in Flight 4, Brenda Aguilar and Jamie Duque will play a team from Eckerd.

"It's early in the year so we are just getting started in terms of helping our players develop their games and compete at the highest level. The women have been training hard for six weeks and we're looking forward to an early test against several strong D2 programs," Thor said. "I expect them to compete to the best of their ability, come away with some hard-earned wins, and bring enthusiasm to practice on Monday morning when we get back to work."

Saturday and Sunday will feature singles matches with the finals slated for Sunday afternoon.