MURFEESBORO, Tenn. – After dropping the doubles point, the University of South Alabama men's tennis team rallied to defeat Valparaiso 4-2 Sunday at the Adams Tennis Complex.
 
This marks the third consecutive victory for the Jags, improving them to 20-5, while the Crusaders dropped to 17-3.
 
"Today was a great battle," said USA head coach Nick Brochu. "Both teams played extremely well. Being an indoor team, we knew that Valpo would be aggressive in doubles."
 
To begin doubles, senior Juan Cruz Soria (San Juan, Argentina) and freshman Loic Cloes (Remicourt, Belgium) fell to Jeffrey Schorsch and Dave Bacalla 6-2 on court No. 1. Junior Oliver Gingras (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada) and senior Pierre Noyon (Oye-Plage, France) bounced back to best Kyle Dunn and Brandon Ancona 6-4 at No. 3. Charlie Emhardt and Chad Kissell defeated senior Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) and sophomore Lucas Gonzalez (Chateauroux, France) 7-5 on court No. 2 to clinch the doubles point for Valparaiso.
 
"We played well but dropped a close one at No. 2 in the decisive match," Brochu said.
 
In singles Gonzalez began with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Garrett Gardner at No. 5, and Cloes dropped Ancona 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4 to give the Jaguars a 2-1 lead. The Crusaders tied it when Dunn beat Noyon 6-0, 7-5 on court No. 6, but USA came back when No. 97 Jacobs won 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) over Kissell at No. 2. No. 111 Soria clinched the victory for the Jags by defeating Schorsch 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 on court No. 1.
 
"We felt confident going into singles," said Brochu. "We need to stretch the points. The longer the points, the more we felt it would work to our advantage. We started very strong, winning the first set on five courts. We had the momentum and needed to stay tough. Valpo fought hard and came back on three courts. With the overall score tied at 2-2, our top two players stepped up. It was great to see Tuki and Juan Cruz play some big tennis after having a bad day yesterday. They both delivered when it mattered the most."

The Jaguars return to the court Thursday at 1 p.m. to play Troy at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.
 
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).
 
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: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/baselineclub