Complete Results

NEW ORLEANS – Top-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette swept doubles and took three singles matches to edge the University of South Alabama men's tennis team 4-2 and was crowned the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Champion on Sunday at City Park Tennis Center.

The Ragin' Cajuns, ranked No. 64, improved to 20-4, while the 71st-ranked Jaguars ended their season at 18-8 overall.

"We have some mixed feelings about today," said USA head coach Nick Brochu. "We are proud of what we accomplished this season, but at the same time we are extremely disappointed. Especially after beating ULL during the regular season, we were expecting nothing less than a conference title."

ULL took the doubles point after dropping only three games total. Hunter Johnson and Carl Alberton dropped senior Shayann Vaezzadeh (Bavent, France) and freshman Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) 8-1 at No. 3, and No. 106 Rick de Groot and Jake Wynan defeated junior Manuel Belda (Posadas, Misiones, Argentina) and sophomore Juan Troglia (Mendoza, Argentina) 8-2 at the No. 1 spot.

In singles action, junior Daniel Leitner (Niederfischbach, Germany) downed Edgar Lopez 6-1, 6-1 on the No. 1 court to tie the match at 1-1. Jake Wynan and his brother Jarred combined to give ULL a 3-1 lead with victories at Nos. 6 and 3. Jarred topped Troglia 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 and Jake outlasted Jacobs 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

Belda rallied the Jaguars with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over de Groot in the No. 2 flight, but Damian Farinola secured the match for ULL to send them to the NCAA Tournament when he edged sophomore Gerhard Gruindelingh (Pretoria, South Africa) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4.

"We knew ULL was good in doubles," said Brochu. "It didn't hurt us mentally after losing the doubles point. We knew we were strong in singles. I think we missed a few points that could have made a big difference overall. Dropping a close first set at some positions hurt us and gave ULL a lot of momentum.

"Overall, we fought hard but couldn't distance ourselves enough after taking the lead on some courts. It was a great match and I am proud of the guys. I want to thank everyone who drove from Mobile to support us."

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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