Complete Results

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The University of South Alabama men's tennis team got straight-sets wins at three of the top four flights to earn the Jaguars a 5-2 road win at Southern Miss Thursday at the USM Tennis Courts.

The Jags finish the regular season at 14-8 and commence play at the Sun Belt Conference Championships Friday, April 17. The Golden Eagles suffer their first home loss of the year and fall to 15-8.

"This was a great win today," USA head coach Nick Brochu said. "Southern Miss played hard but the guys controlled the tempo of the match perfectly and won the crucial points. Some guys didn't play their best tennis today but we still won."

After rallying to win the doubles point, South Alabama won three of the next four contests to take the match. Senior Daniel Leitner (Niederfischbach, Germany) put the Jags up 2-0 with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 1 over Tarun Surat. USM's Chao-Yu Huang tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-3 win on the No. 3 court.

Junior Tim Srkala (Brno, Czech Republic) and sophomore Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) claimed the next two matches at flights 2 and 4, respectively. Srkala knocked off Wen-Po Tseng 7-5, 6-2, and Jacobs downed Alex Doleac 6-4, 6-1 to give the Jags the win.

The final two points were decided in three sets. Junior Gerhard Gruindelingh (Pretoria, South Africa) rallied from a first-set loss to defeat Mikhail Esipov 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), (10-7) at No. 6, and Southern Miss' Brad Marriott won 5-7, 6-4, (10-7) over freshman Olivier Gingras (Quebec, Canada) on court 5.

The Jaguars came back after a loss on court 3 to claim the doubles point. Daniel Merker and Surat blanked USA's pair 6-0, but Srkala and Gingras won 6-2 at No. 2, and Leitner and Gruindelingh gave South Alabama the early lead with a 6-4 victory over Huang and Tseng on court 1.

"Winning even when you don't play well is a good mental win," said Brochu. "Our goal was to compete, behave, and focus like it was the conference tournament. We did a great job today. Southern Miss is having a great year; beating them twice shows how solid we can be."

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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