Results

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – In the second match of the MT Shootout, the University of South Alabama men's tennis team lost to host No. 62 Middle Tennessee 4-0 at the Buck Bouldin Tennis Center on Saturday.

The overall spring season record for the Jags is now 12-9, and Middle Tennessee's campaign is at 14-4.

The first match of doubles play included Ayed Zatar Cordero and Gonzalo Morello of Middle Tennessee, who defeated senior Gerhard Gruindelingh (Pretoria, South Africa) and sophomore Olivier Gingras (Quebec, Canada) 6-1 in the No. 1 spot. On the No. 3 court, junior Pierre Noyon (Oye-Plage, France) and junior Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) picked up South Alabama's first win, 6-3, against Dima Zyhmantovich and Luis Morillo Diaz.

To clinch the doubles point, Miguel Negre and Issa Gian paired up to edge senior Tim Srkala (Brno, Czech Republic) and senior Juan Troglia (Mendoza, Argentina) 7-5 on the No. 2 court.

"Doubles was better than yesterday. We were in position to win on two courts but Middle Tennessee was tough," USA head coach Nick Brochu said. "We dropped one of the last two and lost a crucial point. Gaining momentum after winning the doubles point is always big."

In singles action, Cordero won over Noyon 6-3, 6-4 on the No. 4 court, while Morello picked up a point over Srkala 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 1 spot to put the Blue Raiders up 3-0.

On the No. 6 court, Diaz defeated freshman Lucas Gonzalez (Chateauroux, France) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 to claim the victory for Middle Tennessee.

"The guys regrouped and started singles on fire. We got on top of them early, earning a break on four courts," Brochu commented. "The big mistake today is that we couldn't close the sets when we had the chance. We allowed Middle Tennessee to come back and steal all the first sets. That was a mental mistake by our team."

South Alabama is back in action for the third match of the MT Shootout on Sunday against Alabama-Birmingham at 10 a.m.

"We need to analyze both matches this weekend and make sure we are ready for our last match tomorrow against a strong UAB team," Brochu said.     
 
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