BOCA RATON, Fla.  – The University of South Alabama No. 38 men's tennis team (17-4) fell 4-3 to George Washington (11-5) on Wednesday afternoon at Patch Reef Tennis Club.
 
"George Washington fought very hard to earn this victory, but I'm very disappointed with the way we lost," said South Alabama head coach Nick Brochu. "We are making basic mistakes on key points, something we haven't done this season. For the past 2 months, we've been able to come through at clutch time, but not tonight. After dropping the doubles point, Lucas Gonzalez and Pierre Noyon played some solid tennis to put us up 2-1. At that time, we were winning on all the remaining four matches. It is very concerning what happened on the first three courts. We were two games away from clinching the match on two courts. Looking at what we have achieved this semester, this match should have been a formality according to the position we were in."
 
George Washington won the first doubles match on court No. 3 6-3 as Chris Reynolds and Fernando Sala beat senior Pierre Noyon (Oye-Plage, France) and junior Olivier Gingras (Quebec City, Quebec, Candada). The Jaguars evened it up as senior Juan Cruz Soria (San Juan, Argentina) and freshman Loic Cloes (Remicourt, Belgium) topped Julius Tverijonas and Chris Fletcher 7-6 (7-3) on court No. 1, but the Colonials claimed the doubles point when William Tutecky and Christos Hadjigeorgiou won 7-5 on court No. 2 over senior Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) and freshman Clement Marzol (Toulouse, France).
 
Noyon evened the match up by winning the first singles match 6-4, 6-2 over Dennis Afanasev on court No. 5, and sophomore Lucas Gonzalez (Chateauroux, France) gave the Jags the lead by defeating Jakub Behun 6-4, 6-3 on court No. 6.  The match was evened up at 2-2 when Fletcher beat Soria 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 on court No. 2.
 
South Alabama got back the lead when Cloes won 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 over Hadjigeorgiou on court No. 4.  George Washington got the win by claiming the last two singles matches.  Reynolds won 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 over Marzol on court No. 3, and Tverijonas beat No. 82 Jacobs 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 6-2 on court No. 1.  The Jags at one point were ahead in the final two matches (4-1 in the second set at no.1 and 4-2 in the 3rd at no.3).
 
"We need to have a solid week of practice before we head into the last stretch of the season," said Brochu. "Some guys need to take a good look in the mirror and step up their games. It is unacceptable to have a good doubles lineup like ours and close this trip without a doubles point. We have had a great three-fourths of a season, but what matters is how you finish it. We need to work harder."
 
The Jags are off for over a week and return to the courts for a match next Friday against Dartmouth in New Orleans at 1:00 p.m.
 
Join the Baseline Club, the tennis-specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Baseline Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's and women's tennis programs. For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/baselineclub.
 
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).