TULSA, Okla. – University of South Alabama men's tennis player Loïc Cloes picked up a pair of qualifying round victories Tuesday and advanced to the Singles Main Draw of the Saint Francis Health System ITA All-American hosted by Tulsa. Clément Marzol also earned a three-set victory in the consolation draw of the round.

Tournament Name: Saint Francis Health System ITA All-American Championships
Host: Tulsa
Date: 10/8
Place: Michael D. Case Tennis Center / Union 9th Grade Center (Tulsa, Okla.)

QUALFYING ROUND – SECOND AND THIRD ROUNDS – SINGLES
- No. 124 Loïc Cloes (South Alabama) def. Ethan Leon (SMU), 6-4, 5-7, 7-5
- No. 124 Cloes (South Alabama) def. No. 109 Ryan Goetz (Virginia), 6-4, 6-2

Matches played at the Case Tennis Center

QUALFYING ROUND – CONSOLATION DRAW – SINGLES
- Clément Marzol (South Alabama) vs. No. 113 Francisco Bastias (Miami [Fla.]), 6-3, 3-6, 6-2

Match played at the Union 9th Grade Center

NOTES
- After splitting the first two sets of his opening match, Cloes edged out SMU's Ethan Leon with a 7-5 third set victory to move onto the third round.
- The Jag senior was victorious in straight sets over Virginia's Ryan Goetz, ranked 105th in the preseason ITA rankings, winning 6-4, 6-2.
- With the two wins, Cloes advanced to the Main Draw for the second-straight year. Last season, Cloes where he fell to Florida's Oliver Crawford in the round of 64.
- With Tuesday's win, Marzol closes out singles play at the national event with a 2-1 record at the tourney.

UP NEXT
- Cloes will open up singles play in the Main Draw on Wednesday against Brian Cernoch (North Carolina), who is ranked 48th nationally, at 9 a.m. Cloes and Marzol will open up doubles action in the Main Draw on Wednesday when the Jag duo faces the doubles team of Blake Croyder / Philip Henning (Georgia) at 3 p.m.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Nick Brochu
- On Cloes' first match of the day:: "It was a great day for Loïc. In his morning match, he got off to a slow start and he was playing against a player who was very consistent from the baseline, very quick around the court and made Loïc play a ton of balls. It took Loïc about 4-5 games to get into the match, but once he got his grove going, Loïc just had too much firepower. The opponent didn't have that great of a reach and Loïc hit the balls high to his backhand and then followed it up with a big forehand.
"Loïc was able to make a big comeback in the first set and from that point on really took things over. Serving for set point (5-4) in the second, he kind of panicked a bit and maybe wanted to finish his opponent off too quickly. He got broken and lost the set. We had to regroup and Loïc found himself down 5-3 in the third. We knew his opponent had had to play in the prequalifying round, so I just kept telling Loïc that the long rallies were good for him and to just stay in the match and not force things. Move the guy side-to-side and eventually I felt that the guy was going to give him a poor ball because we felt he was exhausted; it was his sixth match in four days. Loïc came back and served it out like a champ."
- On Cloes' second opponent: "Loïc played a very good opponent from Virginia in the second match today. We knew he had a one-handed backhand, so Loïc used his kick to the backhand extremely high and he was spinning his forehand to the guy's backhand, which forced his opponent to give him a short ball. Loïc would then just come in and finish off the point. Loïc stuck to the game plan very well. He was hitting big safe targets, while still applying pressure. I'm very proud of the way he bounced back from the disappointing mental performance this morning."
- On Cloes advancing to the Main Draw: "This is the same path that Loïc had to take last season to the Main Draw. He's been there and knows how it is. Hopefully he'll use last year's experience to his advantage and hopefully we'll get a good draw. If we are able to, who knows what can happen."
- On Marzol's consolation singles match: "Clem faced a very energetic player from Miami who won a lot of matches in the ACC last season and was that league's freshman of the year I believe. Clem had to dig deep, but we felt that Clem was stronger mentally than his opponent and he knew that if he forced the match to a third set and stay tough, he would have the advantage. We felt his opponent would try to force some big shots and that's what happened. Clem started well, but regrouped after dropping the second set and closed out the match with a decisive 6-2 win. It was a great day for us."
- On the doubles portion of the Main Draw starting tomorrow for Cloes and Marzol: "Our two guys are extremely excited to play doubles tomorrow. They've only played one tournament this fall together. Last year they lost in the quarterfinals in a very close match against a team from Florida. They were very close to qualifying for nationals and they are looking forward to that opportunity again."

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

—USA—