Results

NEW ORLEANS – After dropping the doubles point, the University of South Alabama men's tennis team won three three-set singles matches to defeat Appalachian State 4-1 in the Sun Belt Conference Championships semifinals Saturday afternoon at City Park Tennis Center.

The second-seeded Jaguars improve to 15-11 and will play No. 3 seed Texas-Arlington Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Mountaineers, the No. 6 seed, finish at 14-7.

"We knew it was going to be a dogfight, especially since they had the momentum from yesterday's big win against Troy," USA head coach Nick Brochu said. "We had some guys that were hurt and couldn't play today, so beating a team like App State that plays with a lot of energy without your No. 2 and 4 is a big accomplishment. You have guys that were supposed to be at 7 and 8, and they're asked to step in at 5 and 6.

"I want to say congratulations to App State. We played them last year in the quarterfinals and beat them, and now this year in the semis. This team is the exact same team as last year but they're playing so much better. Their coach is doing a great job. They're going to keep on getting stronger. It was a great match today."

The comeback began with the only two-set match of the day when senior Juan Troglia (Mendoza, Argentina) defeated Oliver Casey on the No. 2 court 7-5, 6-3.

"When you go that far in a season, it's always good to have your senior, like Juan, give us a big first point," Brochu stated. "He usually plays No. 3 but had to step up and play No. 2."

Junior Dallas Teague (Spanish Fort, Ala.) rallied from a tiebreaker loss in the first set at No. 5 to outlast Jan-Willem Kleynhans 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-4 to give the Jags a 2-1 advantage, before senior Gerhard Gruindelingh (Pretoria, South Africa) downed Zach Bost 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to add to the lead.

"Dallas, in his first semester with us, pulled out a big win for us, which was awesome," Brochu said.

On the No. 3 court, sophomore Olivier Gingras (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada) clinched the win after bouncing back from another first-set deficit, downing Jack Maddocks 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

"We were behind in the score, but we never felt like we were behind," Brochu said. "Even when we lost the first set, we felt like we had control of the match. Before singles, we talked about staying focused, and it doesn't matter what position you're playing, you're capable of winning that match; that's why you're there. We're fortunate to have eight strong players that can step up and that's what happened today."

In doubles, the Mountaineers took courts 1 and 2 to go up 1-0. Kleynhans and Scott Webster topped Gingras and Gruindelingh 6-3, then Casey and Maddocks edged senior Tim Srkala (Brno, Czech Republic) and Teague 7-5.

Sunday marks the program's fifth finals appearance in the last six seasons. South Alabama defeated Texas-Arlington 4-1 in last year's semifinals and leads the all-time series 4-0.

"It will be a strong match," Brochu said. "A month and a half ago, I said UT Arlington was the team to beat this year. They have a different lineup than last year, but so do we. It will be a very close match and a very emotional match; UT Arlington is an emotional team, so I think whoever gets the momentum and can keep it will get the title."

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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