THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The University of South Alabama men's tennis team had two players reach the final of the respective draws on day one of the Thomasville Invitational at the Glen Arven Country Club.

Senior Pierre Noyon (Oye-Plage, France) reached the A draw finals after picking up a pair of wins. He took his first singles match in straight sets over Valdosta State's Fernando Rivas 6-1, 6-1 before outlasting Pedro Dumont of West Florida 3-6, 6-4, 2-1 (ret.). 

Lucas Gonzalez advanced to the B draw finals, coming back against Xavier Pineda after losing the first set to win 3-6, 6-2, (10-6), then downed Lucas Sanchez of UWF 6-2, 6-0.

Oliver Gingras (Quebec, Canada) fell to VSU's Leo Blay 6-3, 6-3, but stayed alive after winning a consolation match against Florida A&M's Carlos Waitman 6-2, 6-1. Gingras will face West Florida's Serdar Bojodjieva on Sunday in the Singles B finals. 

In singles, Clement Marzol (Toulouse, France) started off with a win in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2 over Valdosta State's Davis Stewart. The freshman advanced to the semifinals, but fell to Bojodjieva 7-6, 6-2 to end his singles run. 

"Singles were long and hard," USA head coach Nick Brochu said. "This tournament is a good physical test since the guys were on the court for about five hours today. The guys looked good and on top shape; that was good to see. Pierre played two through matches to reach the final. Coming back from behind to win the second match is a good confidence booster.

"Clement showed excellent skills winning his first match and taking his second opponent to the limit. I think he was a little nervous at the end giving some free points, but overall he looked very promising. Lucas also reached the final of his draw by digging two long matches. He was a warrior out there today. Olivier was explosive in his second match and took care of business quickly."

In doubles, South Alabama lost both matches. Gringas and Noyon fell to UWF's Alex Peyrot and Pedro Dumont 8-5, while Marzol and Gonzalez fell to Veldosta State's Blay and Pineda 9-8. 

"Doubles was good this morning," Brochu said. "Oli and Pierre competed well but made bad decisions towards the end and it cost them important points. Lucas and Clement played really well and lost a close tiebreaker. Overall, we competed well but we need to be a little bit more aggressive at the net."