USA vs. Troy box score


TROY, Ala. – University of South Alabama junior Dauw Kruger (Pretoria, South Africa) clinched the 5-2 win over Sun Belt Conference rival Troy in a four-hour marathon match Wednesday at the Lunsford Tennis Complex.

"We had to dig deep today,” said USA head coach Nick Brochu. “We played for four hours. We were very aggressive doubles again today and, looking back, the doubles point was extremely important.”

USA juniors Kruger and Hanno Bartsch (Pretoria, South Africa) picked up the first win of the day with their 8-1 victory over Mansingh Athare and Niklas Jonsson at No. 3 doubles. Junior Christian Kuehne (Morbach, Germany) and sophomore Alexandre Bernard (Soisy Sur Seine, France) clinched the doubles point, beating Mario Rolemberg and Branko Weber 8-5 in the No. 1 spot. The Jaguar tandem of senior Jairo Seur (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and junior Romain Bocaert (Lille, France) follwed downing Anas Rouchdi and Sami Ghorbel 8-7 (8-5) on the No. 2 court.

The Trojans took the lead after securing the first two singles points with Jonsson’s 6-1, 6-4 win over Seur at the No. 6 position and Rolemberg’s 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Kuehne.

Bartsch defeated Jamie Eccleton at No. 5 singles 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 tying the match at 2-2. Bocaert followed in the No. 1 position beating Weber 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

“We played a little defensively in singles, but we were the loudest team in the third set,” said Brochu. “That's why we won four out of five of them. We showed a lot of character today. I'm proud of my guys.”

After dropping his first set on the No. 3 court 7-6 (7-4) to Ghorbel, Kruger battled back to take both the second and third sets by a score of 6-0 and win the match for South Alabama.

At No. 2 singles Bernard added the fifth and final point to the scoreboard topping Roudchdi 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).

“Some guys stepped up big time today,” said Brochu. “Because of the many injuries we have, some guys have to play two to three spots ahead of where they normally play, but they were able to step up to the challenge.”

The Jags do not resume play until March 8, when they will host Radford at 1p.m.

“We will really enjoy our break coming up,” said Brochu. “We need it.”

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