MOBILE, Ala. – Troy’s Aurelien Tave rallied from a one set deficit to defeat USA sophomore Lucas Viel 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 clinching the 4-3 win for the No. 68 Trojans Thursday at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.

“Losing 4-3 hurts,” USA head coach Nick Brochu said. “This match was pretty much a summary of the entire season. We keep getting close to teams that are ranked and not winning. The difference today was that we had chances to close the match and we didn’t. As soon as they got their chance they did.”

The South Alabama tandem of Romain Bocaert and Christian Kuehne kicked off doubles action with an 8-6 victory over the Trojans’ Xavier Masson and Branko Weber on the No. 2 court. At the No. 1 spot Troy’s Luis Henrique Grangeiro and Mario Rolemberg followed with an 8-4 win over the Jags’ Hanno Bartsch and Alexandre Bernard. USA’s Viel paired with Dauw Kruger at No. 3 dropping a hard-fought match to the Guilherme Sahadi and Anas Rouchdi 9-7 and giving Troy the doubles point.

“I think that losing the doubles point really hurt us,” said Brochu. “We thought that one was in the bag and we lost it.”

In singles play, the matches were split 3-3. The Jaguars led with Bocaert’s quick 6-1, 6-1 win over Grangeiro in the No. 1 flight. The Trojans’ Masson answered with a victory over USA’s Bernard 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) at the No. 4 position. The next two points came in straight sets to South Alabama’s Kruger and Bartsch on the No. 5 and No. 6 courts respectively giving the Jags the 3-2 lead. Troy earned wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles to clinch the closely matched duel.

“In singles, some guys put up an amazing fight and some of the guys just choked, there’s no other way to put it,” Brochu said. “We just played scared at some positions. I also have to give credit to Troy. They fought really hard.” 

Selected individuals will be participating in the International Tennis Federation Futures Tournament at the Mobile Tennis Center this weekend.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251)461-1USA(1872).

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