LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The University of South Alabama men's tennis team fell 4-1 to the Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara in the opening match in the Los Angeles regional of the 2019 ITA Kickoff Weekend on Saturday afternoon. 

The No. 16 ranked doubles team of Loic Cloes and Clement Marzol defeated their opponents 6-0 on court one in the opening doubles round giving their team the lead in best of three. UC Santa Barbara took the final two matches and the doubles point with them. 

Maxime Lapraille got the Jaguars on the board defeating his opponent 7-5, 6-1 in straight sets on court number four in the singles round. The Jags were trailing 3-1 and were down to their last point, albeit in a positive position on the remaining three courts. 

On court one Sacha Modica had his opponent down 4-2, Cloes had Victor Krustev of UCSB down 4-0 on court three, and Sam Serrano had his opponent trailing 4-1 on court four. Cloes fell 5-7 in the third set and the Gauchos got their fourth point for the match win. Modica's and Serrano's matches were suspended and they did not finish once the fourth point was awarded. 

DOUBLES
(1) #16 Cloes/Marzol (SA) def. Holm/Moreno de Alboran (UCSB) - 6-0
(2) Krustev/Rotheram (UCSB) def. Delcour/Modica (SA) - 6-3
(3) Guillin/Soto (UCSB) def. di Loreto/Serrano (SA) - 6-2

SINGLES
(1) #6 Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (UCSB) vs. Sacha Modica (SA) - 4-6, 6-3, 4-5 susp.
(2) #22 Joseph Guillin (UCSB) def. #48 Clement Marzol (SA) - 6-2, 6-2
(3) Victor Krustev (UCSB) def. Loic Cloes (SA) - 6-1, 3-6, 7-5*
(4) Joseph Rotheram (UCSB) vs. Samuel Serrano (SA) - 2-6, 7-5, 2-4 susp.
(5) Maxime Lapraille (SA) def Hironori Koyanagi (UCSB) - 7-5, 6-1
(6) Anders Holm (UCSB) def. Louis Delcour (SA) - 6-3, 6-3

UP NEXT
South Alabama stays out in California to take on Cal Poly in a consolation dual match tomorrow Jan. 27 at 10 a.m (PST). The match will take place at Marks Stadium. 

QUOTES
Head Coach Nick Brochu
On the match: Today is hard to swallow. Not only we lost a close one, but we were up a break or two on the last three matches. We definitively choked. We were in position to win, but some guys got tight and let them come back. We need to work on relaxing and not let the pressure get to us. We need to control the momentum of the match a little better. Some matches were way to up and down. It's still early in the season and I know we will be twice as strong a month from now.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. 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

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