Box Score
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – The University of South Alabama men's tennis team dominates singles to take the Sun Belt Conference Championship Match 4-1 over Georgia State. It is the first SBC Championship for the program since 2008.
 
DOUBLES
- On court 1, No. 39 Loic Cloes and Clement Marzol cruised past Sebastian Acuna and Andrei Duarte 6-1.
- Sacha Modica and Olivier Gingras fell at No. 2 to Giles Hussey and Jack MacFarlane 6-4.
- Santiago di Loreto and Max Lapraille fought back on court 3 to force a tiebreak, but were defeated by Andrea Andrukhou and Bailey Showers 7-6 (6-4).

SINGLES
- Modica helped the Jaguars regain momentum with a dominating 6-1, 6-3 victory over Hussey on court 3.
- On court 1, Marzol took his match 6-4, 6-4 over Andrukhou.
- At No. 6, Lapraille went down a break in the second set, but battled back to triumph over Showers 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).
- Cloes closed the match out for South Alabama on court 2 with 6-1, 7-5 victory over Acuna.
- Gingras and Lucas Gonzalez were each up 1-0 in the third set at the closing of the match.
 
NOTES
- This is the program's 17th SBC team title and will be its 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Jags defeated the Panthers after dropping their previous two matches between the programs.
- South Alabama extended its record to 14-9 this season.
- By sealing the match for the Jags, Cloes extended his dual record to 20-1 this season.
- South Alabama dropped just one singles match in its three tournament matches.

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Nick Brochu
On getting redemption over Georgia State: "It feels awesome. I'm so proud of those guys. We are a very young team. Our top guys are sophomores. We've been struggling this year. If we compare this team to last year's, last year we were awesome. It was probably one of our best teams in the last 10 years. Georgia State had an awesome team as well and it was a great battle and we were two points short of being champions last year. This year is a different story. Our record was weaker than last year, but that doesn't matter because at the end of the day when you come to the conference championship, if you win you keep going. It doesn't matter what your record was, the seed doesn't matter. Those guys just bonded and believed in one another. They didn't expect one guy to pull off all the points. It came from everybody. During the tournament we had great leadership from our captains Oli [Gingras] and Lucas [Gonzalez] who showed so much heart. We got a great group of guys and that's been what was working for us towards this championship. It doesn't happen overnight. We have guys that paved the way like Touki Jacobs and Daniel Leitner. The previous guys were able to set the tone and that's why young guys like Loic (Cloes) and Clement (Marzol) want to come to South and play. They want to join this group and know it's a winning attitude. Today it worked and clicked on all six courts. It was a great battle."
 
On rallying back after dropping the doubles point: "It's a big point. It's only one point, but it's a big one. To be honest, I thought we had the best top-three in the conference and we showed it today. We also knew Georgia State was deep and they're four, five and six were really good. When we lost the doubles point, it put a little pressure on us. We knew we needed one guy down there to pull off a big match and Max (Lapraille), a first semester freshman, was clincher for the HEB Invitational in Texas. Today he was on and knew what he had to do. He had two match points earlier and couldn't covert on those, but he stayed focused and forced a tiebreak. Today we knew we had to show a lot of heart and character. Georgia State took both of their matches 4-0 and came in confident. This year was reversing the roles. Last year we won in the regular season and they beat us in the final. Sometimes it's hard to show character when you're that young, but my guys did it and I'm proud of them."
 
Soph. Loic Cloes
On how it feels to be a conference champion: "It feels unbelievable. We lost the doubles point. Our guys fought like dogs and we deserved it this year. Last year we lost and this year our team can enjoy it."
 
On getting redemption after last year's lose to Georgia State: "It made me real angry when we lost to them. Last year I think we played a little bit better, but this year was a tough season. The first match was a tough one, yesterday was a little easier and today was tough."
 
Advice to those who are struggling and want to be like him: "Keep your head up and keep fighting."
 
On getting ready for the NCAA Tournament: "There's got to be no pressure. We just won our conference. We have to practice and play loose."
 
UP NEXT
The Jags will find out who their opponent will be in the NCAA Tournament when it is announced during the selection show on May 1 at 4:30 p.m. (C.T.).  
 
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).
 
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/baselineclub
 
—USA—