Complete Results
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – University of South Alabama sophomore
Juan Troglia (Mendoza, Argentina) earned two victories, including a win at No. 5 singles to secure the match in the Jaguars' 4-3 win over DePaul on Saturday to reach the finals of the Middle Tennessee Shootout.
USA improved to 14-6 overall, DePaul dropped to 7-10 in their spring campaign.
"We knew playing indoors was to DePaul's advantage, but we played well and the guys were starting to get more comfortable playing indoors," said USA head coach
Nick Brochu.
Troglia teamed up with freshman
Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) to clinch the doubles point with a 6-5 (11-9) win over
Joshua Schramm and
Sten Leusink at No. 3. Troglia picked up his seventh win this season when he later rallied to outlast
Tim Corwin 6-5 (8-6), 1-6, 6-5 (7-3).
"It is great to see different guys rising up to the occasion," said Brochu. "This semester has been hard for Juan, but he came up big today. He played a great doubles match, winning the tiebreaker to clinch the point. In singles, we worked on the mental part of the game during the whole match. There were so many times where he would be up and saw the guy come back. He had so much pressure on him, being the last one playing. I'm so proud of him for staying focused and sticking to the plan."
The Jaguars picked up wins at Nos. 3, 4 and 5 to take the win over the Blue Demons. Sophomore
Gerhard Gruindelingh (Pretoria, South Africa) gave the Jags a 2-0 lead when he defeated Schramm 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4. Leusink answered with a 6-5 (7-5), 6-2 victory over junior
Manuel Belda (Posadas, Misiones, Argentina) in the No. 2 flight.
Filip Dzanko handed junior
Daniel Leitner (Niederfischbach, Germany) his fourth loss of the season when he won 6-5 (7-4), 6-5 (7-5) at the No. 1 spot. With the match tied at 2-2, Jacobs edged
David Vieyra 6-4, 6-5 (7-3) on the No. 3 court.
Freshman
Quincy Olij (Alkmaar, Netherlands) fell 6-3, 6-2 to
Paul John at No. 6, tying the match at 3-3. Troglia broke the tie to give the Jags their third straight win this season.
In doubles action, Dzanko and Vieyra topped Belda and Olij 6-4 at No. 1. Leitner and Gruindelingh followed with a 6-4 win over
Jan-Willem Feilzer and John to improve to 4-0 this season. Troglia and Jacobs then won the tiebreaker to take the point.
"We played using the no-ad format and we probably lost 80% of them," said Brochu. "It seemed to be impossible for us to get something going and everything was going well for DePaul. We had so many chances to break them and take the lead, but we always missed by a few inches. It was definitely hard today, but the guys pulled it out. I'm so proud of them."
The Jaguars are slated to face host Middle Tennessee in the final on Sunday 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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