USA vs. Austin Peay box score


MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men’s tennis team won four singles matches, all in straight sets, including Alex Bernard’s win at No. 3 to give the Jags a 4-3 victory over Austin Peay Friday afternoon at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.

“Alex had to really dig deep today,” said USA head coach Nick Brochu. “He was down 4-1 in the first set and came back to win 7-6 after a very long tiebreaker. In the second set he was much more relaxed and he was able to hit that big forehand of his.”  

With Austin Peay up 1-0, the doubles point came down to simultaneous tie-breakers on courts No. 1 and No. 3. Austin Peay’s Henrique Norbiato and Sean Bailey clinched the point with a 9-8 (7-4) win in the No. 1 spot just before USA juniors Dauw Kruger (Pretoria, South Africa) and Hanno Bartsch (Pretoria, South Africa) downed John Storie and Joao Pagan 9-8 (9-7).

“We started very poorly,” said USA head coach Nick Brochu. “In doubles we played without any passion. We were not aggressive and we didn’t have any energy. Austin Peay came out swinging. They were ten times louder than we were. They got a very good start. They took the lead early in all three doubles matches. We were able to come back in two of those matches and win one of them. Overall, it was a very disappointing performance in doubles.

“Between doubles and singles we had a very serious talk about what we wanted and how hungry for a win we were because it really looked like they wanted to win ten times more than we did,” said Brochu. “We took a good look in the mirror at ourselves and we were able to win. This match was all about character and we showed them that.”

At No. 3 singles Bailey was up 5-3 over the Jaguars’ Christian Kuehne (Morbach, Germany) when Kuehne retired due to injury, giving the Govs the 2-0 lead.

Junior Romain Boacaert (Lille, France) put the Jags’ first point on the board topping Jasmin Ademovic 7-5, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.

“Getting those early points on the board was key,” said Brochu. “Romain was definitely a leader out there today. He beat their best player in a very decisive win to get us on the board very early.”

Bartsch followed in the No. 4 position defeating Remi Calleja 6-3, 7-5 to tie the score 2-2. Kruger’s 6-2, 6-1 win over Pagan gave USA their first lead of the match before Bernard’s 7-6 (10-8), 6-3 match-winning victory.

South Alabama returns to action on March 14 when they travel to Newport News, Va. for back-to-back matches against Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion.

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-