MURFREESBORO, TENN. - The University of South Alabama men's tennis team (6-2) defeated the MTSU Blue Raiders (4-5), 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at the Adams Tennis Complex.
The match came down to the wire for the second day in a row for the Jaguars. It was down to South Alabama's Clement Marzol and MTSU's Stijn Slump at court two for the match. The two traded the first two sets and Marzol was down 1-5 in the third set for the match. Marzol, the number 95 ranked singles player, won six games in a row to defeat his opponent and take match point for the Jaguars.
After losing the doubles point, the Jaguars were down 1-0 heading into the singles matches. Freshman Louis Delcour got the Jags on the board quick with a straight set win over his opponent on court six. Loic Cloes and Sacha Modica finished off their opponents next and South Alabama turned the tables up 3-1 over MTSU. Modica defeated MTSU's Gonzalo Morell, who holds the number 85 singles ranking in the NCAA, in straight sets, 7-6 and 6-4.
DOUBLES
(1) Edge/Moonen def. No. 11 Cloes/Marzol, 6-2
(2) Modica/Serrano def. Rauch/Rocha, 6-5
(3) Morell/Motl def. Lapraille/Di Loreto, 6-4
Order of finish: (1,3)
SINGLES
(1) Sacha Modica def. No. 85 Gonzalo Morell, 7-6, 6-4
(2) No. 95 Clement Marzol def. Stijn Slump, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5*
(3) Loic Cloes def. Tom Moonen, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
(4) Chris Edge def. Maxime Lapraille, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3
(5) Max Rauch def. Sam Serrano, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6
(6) Louis Delcour def. Pavel Motl, 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: (6,3,1,5,2,4)
NOTES
- The Jaguars have won six matches in a row, and three of them by a 4-3 decision.
- South Alabama has lost three doubles points in a row.
- Modica has won his last five singles matches for South Alabama.
UP NEXT
South Alabama returns to Mobile, Ala., to the David Lubel Memorial Courts to take on Jackson State Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 1 p.m.
QUOTES
Head Coach Nick Brochu
"What a big match for us! Especially, bouncing back from a very poor performance last night. Coming out here, we did lose the doubles point, but I told the guys after even though we lost the point: 'the way we were competing is the way we want to play'. Even though we lost the point I thought that was a positive for us, compared to last night."
"We went into singles very hungry and today we really worked on getting louder. The message today was 'you play for the guys to your right, and to your left' Focused on the team effort and it really paid off. One key for today was Louis. He was able to finish his match very quickly. He did not drag it and he got us on the board right away. It kind of gave the momentum to everyone else."
"Also, big performance from Sacha at number one. Beating this ranked player in straight sets, that was really big. I think Loic also had a very bad performance yesterday, he stepped up and played some really big tennis today. Clement pulled out, I don't want to say the 'impossible' because he did it. But, being down 1-5 in the third set, in the deciding match. Coming back and winning six games in a row against an extremely powerful player is something that is straight out of the movies."
"Great team effort, the guys who lost today fought so hard and this was a great step forward as far as team spirit and caring about the guys to your right and to your left. Last year, MTSU finished top 50 in the nation and they are stronger than last year, so they will probably finish in the top 50 again. So this is a great win for our program. We are going to take a day off and we need to keep working to get better, and we will."
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—
