USA vs. FAMU box score


MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men’s tennis team dropped a close 4-3 decision to Florida A&M in a four-hour marathon match Sunday at the Mobile Tennis Center.

The match culminated in a back-and-forth battle between USA sophomore Alexandre Bernard (Soisy Sur Seine, France) and Takura Happy on the No. 2 court. After dropping the first set 7-6 (7-2) Bernard downed Happy 6-3 in the second. The match was ultimately decided on a penalty called against Bernard giving Happy and the Rattlers the win.

“Alex came very close at the end,” said USA head coach Nick Brochu. “It came down to the last match and Alex fought really, really hard. I can’t say anything bad about Alex’s performance today. I always tell them to play their best and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and that’s one that we just lost today.”

In doubles action FAMU’s Levan Clark and Michael Moore beat Lucas Viel (Boussy-Saint-Antoine, France) and Parker Allen (Hot Springs, Ark.) 8-5 at No. 3 doubles. The Jaguars’ Dauw Kruger (Pretoria, South Africa) and Bernard struck back defeating Maurice Wamokowa and Temuera Asafu-Adjaye 8-3 on the No. 2 court followed at the No. 1 spot by Hanno Bartsch (Pretoria, South African) and Romain Bocaert’s (Lille, France) 8-4 victory over Takura Happy and Chidi Gabriel.

“Our goal today was to have a strong start,” said Brochu. “We did a good job in doubles. We won the doubles point and took the early lead so that was good.”

At No. 6 singles senior Jairo Seur (Amsterdam, Netherlands) fell to Asafu-Adjaye 6-3, 6-0.

South Alabama picked up the next two singles points giving the Jags the 3-1 lead. At the No. 3 position Bocaert was victorious over Wamokowa in straight sets 6-2, 6-0. Viel followed on the No. 1 court with his 6-2, 6-2 win over Clark.

FAMU came back with wins at No. 4 and No. 5 singles to tie the match at 3-3. At No. 4 Gabriel defeated Kruger 6-3, 6-2 and at No. 5 Bartsch fell to Moore 6-3, 7-6 (7-1).

“At No. 5 Hanno put up a really good fight, but he couldn’t run or hit a ball because of a back injury,” said Brochu. “He played well in doubles and then hurt his back halfway through the first set of singles. Hanno is in pain and he tried his best, but he came up short.

“This loss hurts because we should be able to handle Florida A&M without a problem. FAMU is the type of team that feeds on adrenalin and emotion. As soon as they realize they have a chance of winning they become much better players and that’s what happened. It’s a long season. This is only the second match. Our goal is to win the conference championship and that’s two and a half months from now so we still have plenty of time to heal those injuries and get better and stronger.”

The Jags round out their three-match homestand Feb. 9 against Southern Miss at 2 p.m. Admission to all home matches is free.

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).

-USA-