TULSA, Okla. – University of South Alabama men's tennis senior Juan Cruz Soria (San Juan, Argentina) won his opener in the prequalifying round at the 2016 Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships, but fell in the nightcap Saturday.

With the loss, Soria is eliminated from the tournament. Senior Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) will start in the qualifying round on Monday.

In the opener, Soria outlasted Fresno State's Mantas Bugailiskis 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

"It was an up-and-down day for Juan," USA head coach Nick Brochu said. "During his first match, he was in control and won the first set easily, then slowed down and let the other guy come back and lost the second set, then got it back together and dominated in the third."

Soria advanced to take on Artem Kapshuk of Temple in the next round. After splitting the first two sets, Kapshuk blanked Soria in the third to take the match 6-4, 1-6, 6-0.

"Something similar happened in his second match," Brochu said. "He dominated his opponent taking a comfortable 4-1 early lead.  He then played five poor games, making mistakes at crucial points. He literally gave away the first set. He got it back together and dominated the second, winning easily. I think he got really nervous in the third set and started making many mistakes. The other player started making some key points which made Juan play even tighter and missing regular shots. Juan was extremely disappointed knowing he was better than his opponent and gave the match away.

"This was the first time I ever seen Juan acting like that. He wasn't taking his time between points and quit playing his game. He will have to learn from today's challenges."

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