UTSA Results
DePaul Results
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The University of South Alabama men’s tennis team lost just one singles match against DePaul to go 1-1 on Friday at the H-E-B Tournament of Champions, hosted by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
The Jaguars (5-6) defeated the Blue Demons 4-1, but fell 4-2 to Texas at San Antonio in the first round.
DePaul took the first match of the day, but South Alabama answered with four wins in singles to secure the match.
“We talked after this morning’s match about performing under pressure and rising to the occasion,” said USA head coach Nick Brochu. “Some of the guys knew their performance was unacceptable and that they had to step up in the second match.”
Mathias Hambach defeated senior Alex Bernard (Soisy Sur Seine, France) 7-6 (7-0), 6-3 at No. 2 to put DePaul on the board. Sophomore Blake Gregor (Griffith, New South Wales, Australia) tied the match at 1-1 with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Adam Reinhart on the No. 6 court.
Freshman Juan Troglia (Mendoza, Argentina) topped Paul John 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 4 spot, followed by freshman Gerhard Gruindelingh’s (Pretoria, South Africa) 7-5, 6-3 victory over Sten Leusink in the No. 3 flight.
Junior Shayann Vaezzadeh (Bavent, France) clinched the win for the Jaguars when he edged Jan-Willem Feilzer 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5.
“It was great to see a guy like Shayann step up and clinch the win for us in straight sets,” said Brochu.
Earlier in the day, South Alabama fell 4-2 to UTSA.
The Roadrunners took the doubles point after Tyler Brown and Joel Rubio won 8-6 over Gregor and Troglia on the No. 2 court.
Leitner and Gruindelingh fell 8-4 to Martin Ayala and Diogo Casa at No. 1. Bernard and Vaezzadeh downed David Kelleher and Oliver Breininger 8-2 in the No. 3 flight.
“It is so frustrating to be in a position to win and it slips away,” said Brochu. “That’s what happened to us in doubles. We tried to catch up in singles, but UTSA was playing very well.”
The Jaguars responded with the first two singles points. Gregor defeated Breininger 6-2, 6-0 on the No. 6 court and Gruindelingh topped Brown 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3.
“The highlights of the day were Blake and Gerhard” said Brochu. “They gave us four important wins and were rock solid for the team today.”
Kelleher picked up a point for USTA to tie the score at 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Vaezzadeh at the No. 5 spot. Rubio edged senior Cody Hall (Albuquerque, N.M.) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the No. 4 flight.
Casa rounded out the day and secured the win for the Roadrunners when he outlasted Bernard 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-2) at No. 2.
“It was very disappointing to see more of our guys not perform to their potential,” said Brochu. “The nerves got the best of us. We have another hard match tomorrow against the No. 1 seed BYU. It’s going to be a big challenge but a great opportunity.”
The Jaguars are back in action Saturday when they take on No. 30 BYU.
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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