TULSA, Okla. – University of South Alabama senior men's tennis player Loïc Cloes' run in the Singles Main Draw at the Saint Francis Health System ITA All-American came to an end Thursday as he fell in straight sets to 10th-ranked Sam Riffice of Florida.

Cloes and doubles teammate Clément Marzol also saw their run come to an end as the Jag duo's rally attempt came up short as they fell in three-sets (6-2, 1-6, 11-9) to Princeton's doubles team of Payton Holden and Ryan Seggerman – ranked 15th nationally in the Main Draw.

Tournament Name: Saint Francis Health System ITA All-American Championships
Host: Tulsa
Date: 10/10
Place: Michael D. Case Tennis Center (Tulsa, Okla.)

MAIN DRAW DOUBLES – ROUND OF 32
- No. 15 Payton Holden / Ryan Seggerman (Princeton), def. No. 37 Loïc Cloes / Clément Marzol (South Alabama), 6-2, 1-6, 11-9

MAIN DRAW SINGLES – ROUND OF 32
- No. 10 Sam Riffice (Florida) def. No. 124 Cloes, 6-2, 6-3

NOTES
- Riffice is ranked No. 10 by the ITA and was the sixth seed in the Main Draw.
- Cloes concluded play this week with a 4-1 singles record and three of his four wins were over ranked opponents.
- After dropping the first set, Cloes and Marzol battled back to take the second set (6-1), and pushed Holden and Seggerman to extra points before falling.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama will compete at the ITA Southern Regionals held in Auburn, Ala., Oct. 17-20.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Nick Brochu
- On the Cloes' singles match: "It was a very tough day for us today. In singles play, it was very hard for Loïc. He played the first set of the match outdoors and had to battle a strong wind. He had a hard time adapting to it and had to be very careful with the wind at his back because the balls were flying out if you weren't careful with your target and your position on the court. When you changed sides, you then had to battle the strong wind in your face and you would find yourself having to hit the ball twice as hard. His opponent did a much better job adapting his game-style to those conditions.
"What also hurt us was that it was Loïc's sixth match in four days and obviously his legs weren't the same as they had been. You could see that his legs were giving out in the long rallies and he didn't have the same push as he had earlier in the tournament. His opponent saw that and worked the ball side to side. When we moved indoors, the rallies were much shorter because the balls moved much faster. His second set [in singles play] was much more competitive and we lost our serve at 4-3. That game went to deuce and it was a big point to drop. Loïc played a good point, but I think when you lose those very tight games, its usually one of the first couple points where if you look back you think that if you had not made that unforced error, you could have taken that game and the set might have turned out different.
"His opponent was a little more consistent and that was the difference. He's a great player and was one of the best juniors in the nation. There's no shame in losing a match to him, but it was still a great tournament for Loïc as he beat a number of ranked players. It was a great experience for him."
- On the doubles match: "With the rain in the area, a lot of matches got moved indoors and the schedule got pushed back. We played early and then because of the longtime in between our matches, we had a lot of down time and there weren't any courts to warm up on during that gap. It was a little tough for us to get warmed back up. It took us about a set to get back adjusted to the elements outside. Princeton was on top of us right from the beginning and took an early break [point] and from that point, they kept making shots and we kept making mistakes. After the first set, we had to regroup and we tried to be a little less aggressive and play with more patience; go for the easy target and make those guys play and work your way up and win the point at the net. It worked out great for us in that set.
"The third set was a 'super breaker' which can go either way. It's the first to 10 and we had won so many of those last year. We started the set great and were up 7-4 at one point, but two things happened. Princeton was able to make a lot of first serves, which make our return a lot harder to do, and we missed a lot of our first serves, which forced us to rely on our second serve. Princeton was a little more aggressive and gave us some tough returns.
"The second thing was we missed some key volleys and that was a big then. When you get to a tiebreaker, it's going to come down to one or two points. You have to win the point that you're in position to win and if you don't that can be the difference. We missed about three or four volleys that we usually make when we're rolling. We know we could have won this match, and should have won it. We have been in those situations before and elevated our level of play, but it didn't happen and it's disappointing.
"Princeton is a great team and it was still a great tournament for us. We saw how we are capable of playing and it will definitely be a big boost for us heading in to the regional tournament next weekend. We've seen some of the guys in our region and I feel that we will be ready."

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