FORT MEYERS, Fla.  – The University of South Alabama No. 38 men's tennis team (17-3) beat Florida Gulf Coast (4-6) 4-1 on Tuesday night at FGCU Tennis Complex.  All four points for the Jaguars came in singles action, including three in straight sets.
 
"Before singles, we talked about grinding out every single point and establishing our game," said South Alabama head coach Nick Brochu. "Even with Clement Marzol out of the lineup, our guys stepped up and took care of business regardless the position they were assigned. Olivier Gingras, Pierre Noyon, and Loic Cloes had an awesome start and quickly gave us three first sets to give us some momentum. The rest of the guys fed on the energy and elevated their game. Juan Cruz Soria finished so strong clinching the match in three sets."
 
Florida Gulf Coast took the doubles point. Oliver Landert and Felipe Ramirez topped senior Juan Cruz Soria (San Juan, Argentina) and freshman Loic Cloes (Remicourt, Belgium) 6-4 on court No. 1, and Javier Fernandez and Ezequiel Cerrini beat senior Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) and freshman Clement Marzol (Toulouse, France) 6-3 on court No. 2. Junior Olivier Gingras (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada) and senior Pierre Noyon (Oye-Plage, France) led Austin Bates and Andres Alfonzo 5-4 on court No. 3.
 
"Doubles was very competitive," said Brochu. "Florida Gulf Coast played better than us on big points and deserved the doubles point."
 
Cloes evened up the match by defeating Cerrini 6-1, 6-1 on court No. 4, and Noyon then won 6-0, 6-4 over Fernandez on court No. 5. Gingras beat Alfonzo 6-1, 6-2 on court No. 3, and Soria clinched the match with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Landert on court No. 2.
 
No. 82 Jacobs was in a third set (6-4, 4-6, 1-3) on court No. 1 against Ramirez, and sophomore Lucas Gonzalez (Chateauroux, France) was leading in his match 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 versus Sam Chaffin on court No. 6.
 
"We showed a lot of character tonight," said Brochu. "It's a good turn round from our last match. We have another big test tomorrow against a good George Washington team."
 
The Jags end their spring break road trip in Florida with a neutral site match with George Washington in Boca Raton on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.
 
Join the Baseline Club, the tennis-specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Baseline Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's and women's tennis programs. For more information on how you can join visit:  http://jaguarathleticfund.com/sports/2013/3/13/Baseline%20Club.aspx?id=24
 
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