Complete Florida State Results

Complete Central Florida Results

TALLAHASSEE, Ala. – Freshman Olivier Gingras (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada) went undefeated on the day to lead the University of South Alabama men's tennis team to a 1-1 start at the Seminole Tournament on Saturday.

Gingras posted a 1-0 mark in singles and went 2-0 in doubles with fellow newcomer and freshman Tim Srkala (Brno, Czech Republic). Gingras clinched the Jaguars' 4-3 win over No. 70 Central Florida with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Arjun Watane at the No. 6 spot.

South Alabama opened the day with a 4-1 loss to No. 35 Florida State.

"Olivier played like a senior and controlled his final match to perfection," said USA head coach Nick Brochu. "He played so solid and never got nervous. Beating UCF is a good win for our program."

With the Jaguars up 1-0 after doubles against Central Florida, Chris Barrus evened the match at 1-1 with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over senior Manuel Belda (Posadas, Misiones, Argentina) at No. 3. Senior Daniel Leitner (Niederfischbach, Germany), ranked No. 113, downed Francesc Aulina 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 1 position.

"Going into singles we showed a lot of energy and took the lead on many courts," said Brochu. "UCF fought back and made the match very competitive. Daniel showed a lot of maturity by staying focused and cheering on all of his teammates. He gave us the big point at No. 1."

Srkala put USA up 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Jose Sangroniz in the No. 2 flight, but Jesse Flores topped junior Gerhard Gruindelingh (Pretoria, South Africa) 6-3, 6-1 at No. 4, and Reece Acree tied the match at 3-3 when he defeated junior Juan Troglia (Mendoza, Argentina) 6-4, 6-0 at the No. 5 spot.

Gingras then picked up his first singles win of the spring to give the Jags the victory.

In doubles action, Gingras and Srkala clinched the doubles point for USA with a 6-4 victory over Sangroniz and Tyler Pate at the No. 3 position.

Leitner and Gruindelingh edged Barrus and Inaki Espindola 6-4 at the No. 1 spot, but Acree and Aulina won 6-3 over Belda and Troglia at No. 2.

"We played excellent doubles against Central Florida," said Brochu. "We were aggressive from the first point of the match."

Earlier in the day against the Seminoles, South Alabama took the doubles point with a 6-3 victory by Gingras and Srkala over Terrance and Terrell Whitehurst in the No. 3 flight. Leitner and Gruindelingh outlasted No. 24 Marco Nunez and Benjamin Lock 7-5 at No. 1.

"We played great doubles against Florida State," said Brochu. "Our No. 1 team played amazing and beat the 24th-ranked team in the country. They stayed focused and delivered on important points. It was a great win."

In singles, Michael Rinaldi dropped Srkala 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 3 position, followed by a 6-2, 6-0 win by No. 99 Nunez over sophomore Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) at No. 2.

Troglia fell 6-2, 6-2 to Jose Gracia in the No. 5 flight and Leitner lost 6-3, 6-4 to Lock at the No. 1 spot.

"As our first match of the season, some guys struggled on important points and trailed behind early," said Brochu. "FSU played well and capitalized on our mistakes. It was a close match."

The Jaguars are back in action Sunday at 1 p.m. against the winner of the Louisiana-Lafayette and Furman match.

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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