NEW ORLEANS – The University of South Alabama No. 47 and second-seed men's tennis team (23-6) fell 4-3 to No. 37 and first-seed Georgia State (19-6) on Sunday afternoon in the finals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at the City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center.
 
"This is the closest we've ever been to winning the Sun Belt Championship," said South Alabama head coach Nick Brochu. "We were about two points away from the championship. At the same time it doesn't feel as painful as previous years because we just gave everything we had. Georgia State did the same, and you win some and you lose some."
 
With the match tied 3-3, it all came down to court No. 3. Junior Olivier Gingras (Quebec City, Quebec, Candada) dropped the first set 6-2 to Jannis Koeke but rebounded to win the second set 7-5. Gingras led 5-2 in the third set, but Koeke won five-straight sets to take the final set 7-5 and win the match for the Panthers.
 
"Olivier fought so hard," said Brochu. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't even be in this final. Yesterday he gave us the clinch and came back today after losing the second set. All seven guys on our team fought hard. I have zero regrets, and I hope the guys don't either."
 
The Panthers took the first two matches in singles action to take their first lead of the day. Sebastian Acuna defeated sophomore Lucas Gonzalez (Chateauroux, France) 6-3, 6-2 on court No. 5. Felipe Jaworski beat senior Pierre Noyon (Oye-Plage, France) 6-2, 7-5 on court No. 6.
 
The Jags took the lead back by winning the next two singles matches. Freshman Loic Cloes (Remicourt, Belgium) won in straight-sets, 6-2, 6-4, on court No. 4 over Quentin Coulaud. No. 104 senior Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) bounced back after dropping the first set 6-2 to No. 84 Zackery Kennedy on court No. 1 and trailing early in the second set to win that set 7-6 (7-1) and the final set 6-3.
 
Senior Juan Cruz Soria (San Juan, Argentina) fell to Andrei Andrukhou on court No. 2. Soria won the first set 6-2, and Andrukhou tied it up with a 6-2 win of his own in the second set. In a back-and-forth third set, Andrukhou just edged out Soria 7-6 (12-10).
 
South Alabama took the doubles point. Cloes and Soria on court No. 1 beat Andrukhou and Kennedy 6-3, and Gonzalez and Jacobs clinched the point on court No. 2 with a 6-2 victory over Acuna and Jack MacFarlane. Gingras and Noyon led 5-4 on court No. 3 against Coulaud and Jaworski.
 
"I don't think it would have been an upset either way," said Brochu. "This was just a good battle and it goes both ways. At the end of the day you had two teams that just gave their hearts out and it was just a good tennis. Credit to Georgia State, and I know they're going to represent this conference well at the NCAA Tournament.
 
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:  jaguarathleticfund.com/baselineclub.
 
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