ResultsCORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The University of South Alabama topped Texas-Rio Grande Valley in the 50th Annual H-E-B Tournament of Champions Saturday morning.
The Jags swept the Vaqueros 4-0 to take fifth place in the tournament. With the win, USA improved to 10-7 on the season, while UT-RGV fell to 7-7.
"Today was all about fitness and mental toughness," said USA head coach
Nick Brochu. "Playing three matches in 36 hours is hard. We feel that we are in good shape physically, and it helped today. We were explosive and aggressive throughout the match."
To begin doubles,
Juan Cruz Soria and
Koby Jansen beat senior
Gerhard Gruindelingh (Pretoria, South Africa) and sophomore
Oliver Gingras (Quebec, Canada) 6-3 at the No. 1 court, but the Jaguars came back when seniors
Tim Srkala (Brno, Czech Republic) and
Juan Troglia (Mendoza, Argentina) bested
Elliot Johnstone and
Andres Hernandez 6-2 at court No. 2.
Juniors
Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) and
Dallas Teague (Spanish Fort, Ala.) secured the doubles point by defeating
Yehonatan Kaufman and
Ethan Ammon 6-4 at No. 3.
"We played great in doubles," Brochu said. "Winning the doubles made everybody relax and focus on big points."
In singles, Jacobs dropped Ammon 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 2 court, and at No. 6, freshman
Lucas Gonzalez (Chateauroux, France) defeated Hernandez 6-1, 6-1.
Gruindelingh clinched the victory with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-2) win over Johnstone at court No. 5.
"Jacobs gave us an important singles point before Gruindelingh clinched the victory for us," said Brochu. "This was a great team effort today."
The Jaguars return to action Sunday, March 13 when they travel to Orlando, Fla. to face Rollins.
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).
—USA—
