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NEW ORLEANS – Top-seeded Troy took the doubles point and three singles matches to edge the University of South Alabama men's tennis team 4-1 and to earn the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Championship on Sunday at City Park Tennis Center.

The Trojans, ranked No. 60 in the nation, improve to 25-6 overall, while the 69th-ranked Jaguars end their season at 16-9.

"Today is hard to swallow," said USA head coach Nick Brochu. "It's very disappointing, but I have to give credit to Troy. They really worked hard and battled. Even matches we thought we had in the bag, they came back and fought." 

Senior Daniel Leitner (Niederfischbach, Germany) and junior Gerhard Gruindelingh (Pretoria, South Africa), ranked No. 78, took the first doubles match 8-5 over Pablo Moreno and Giovani Samaha at the No. 1 spot. Troy's Gabriel Dias and Andy Lau responded with an 8-6 win over senior Manuel Belda (Posadas, Misiones, Argentina) and junior Tim Srkala (Brno, Czech Republic) at No. 2.

Andre Baldo and Hassan Ndayishimye secured the doubles point for the Trojans when they edged junior Juan Troglia (Mendoza, Argentina) and sophomore Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) 8-5 on the No. 3 court.

"All year long doubles have been our strength," said Brochu. "Even today we started out winning at Nos. 1 and 3. Then all of a sudden Troy came back at No. 3. We got really quiet, so they just took over from there."

In singles action, Ndayishimye gave Troy a 2-0 lead when he topped Srkala 6-2, 6-0 in the No. 2 flight, and Gruindelingh fell 7-5, 6-3 to Samaha on the No. 6 court.

Jacobs rallied for the Jags when he dropped Daniel Bustamante 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4, but Moreno outlasted freshman Olivier Gingras (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada) 6-0, 7-6 (7-2) at the No. 5 position.

"Olivier was really close to being the win we needed," said Brochu. "He fought so hard. I can't ask for anymore from him. He played a really good player in Moreno. Moreno just delivered at the end. I wouldn't say Olivier lost the match, I would say Moreno won the match.

"When you have two teams that are very similar, it comes down to a few balls here and there. Today, they made the last ball and it's just very disappointing to come that close to having a good season. You don't always look at wins and losses. This match was a great battle. It was a great level of tennis and shows that the Sun Belt is very competitive."  

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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