Results

TAMPA, Fla. – Down 3-1 halfway through singles play, the University of South Alabama men’s tennis team won two of the last three matches in three sets to overcome South Florida 4-3 Thursday afternoon at USF Varsity Courts.

USA has won six of its last seven matches to improve to 11-4. USF drops to 3-11.

"Even though USF is not ranked, they are probably the second-best team we have played all year,” USA head coach Nick Brochu said. “They are very dangerous, losing extremely close to teams in the top 40 in the nation. They have a lot of talent and a lot of depth in the lineup.  We had to work extremely hard to win today. I’m so proud of my guys. Today was our third match in Florida and we are very tired. We showed a lot of character during the match.

“It was a long trip and it is great to finish it with an excellent win."

Freshmen Daniel Leitner (Niederfischbach, Germany) and Blake Gregor (Griffith, New South Wales, Australia) began the comeback with rallies of their own, winning in three sets after dropping the first frame.

Gregor pulled the Jaguars to 3-2 after defeating Guillermo De Vilchez 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 and Leitner topped Yannick Yoshikawa 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on the No. 2 court to tie the match at 3-3.

"Daniel played an amazing role in today's win,” Brochu said. “Our freshman won his doubles match, but he stepped up big in singles playing at No. 2 for the first time and pulled out a great win in three sets. It was also good to see our other freshman (Gregor) come back from a set down to win the second set, and then down 3-0 in the final set, to win 6-4. His energy is unmatchable."

Senior Dauw Kruger (Pretoria, South Africa), playing at No. 5, completed the Jags’ comeback in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5 over Ravi Patel.

"Dauw has been rock solid for us this year 95 percent of the time,” noted Brochu. “Today was one of those times. He stayed cool under pressure and clinched the match.”

South Alabama earned the doubles point after dropping the first match. Leitner and junior Cody Hall (Albuquerque, N.M.) defeated De Vilchez and Lucas Marin-Salcedo 8-5 at No. 2 and senior Romain Bocaert (Lille, France) and junior Alex Bernard (Soisy Sur Seine, France) outlasted USF’s tandem of Wael Kilani and Federico Sabogal in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-3) at No. 2.
    
The Bulls took their 3-1 lead in singles play with three straight-sets victories.

South Alabama take a week off before hosting Wichita State March 23 at 2 p.m.

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).

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