Complete Troy Results

Complete MTSU Results

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The University of South Alabama men’s tennis team won all four singles matches against Troy to go 1-1 on Saturday at the MT Shootout, hosted by Middle Tennessee.

The Jaguars (9-10) defeated the Trojans 4-0, but fell 4-0 to Middle Tennessee in the second round.

Senior Alex Bernard (Soisy Sur Seine, France) put South Alabama on the board with a straight sets win 7-5, 6-2 over Sami Ghorbel on the No. 3 court. Freshman Gerhard Gruindelingh (Pretoria, South Africa) topped Mansingh Athare 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 at No. 2, followed by sophomore Daniel Leitner’s (Niederfischbach, Germany) 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 win over Anas Rouchdi in the No. 1 flight.

“We played indoors and tried to be aggressive and keep the pressure on Troy,” said USA head coach Nick Brochu. “As soon as we won the first sets on the top four courts we had the momentum and made sure that we never lost it. The guys became more confident, especially after Alex and Gerhard gave us two quick wins.”

With a 3-0 lead for USA, senior Cody Hall (Albuquerque, N.M.) clinched the victory for the Jaguars when he outlasted Daniel Bustamante 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 at the No. 4 spot.

“It is good to win 4-0 against Troy since we will play them again next week,” said Brochu. “That will definitely give us the mental edge.”

South Alabama advanced to the second round to face No. 43 Middle Tennessee.

Christoph Lang picked up the first point of the match with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Gruindelingh on the No. 2 court. Victor Cornea added to the Blue Raiders lead when he downed junior Shayann Vaezzadeh (Bavent, France) 6-0, 6-3 at No. 5. Ben Davis edged Leitner 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 1 spot.

“It is disappointing to lose like this,” said Brochu. “We definitely had the chance to win sets on four courts. We should have won faster on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts. Two wins would have put more pressure on the other matches remaining. It would have been a different match.”

Ettore Zito secured the win for MTSU with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory over Hall.

“We need to be tougher on the court, never give free points and have a bigger killer instinct,” said Brochu. “We have two weeks to work on that before we see them again at the conference tournament.”

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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