JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The University of South Alabama men's tennis team (10-3) fell to the No. 45 ranked University of South Florida, 3-4 in a tightly contested match on Friday afternoon at the UNF Tennis complex.
South Alabama came out strong and earned the doubles point against the Bulls. Sacha Modica and Sam Serrano set the tone early with a 6-2 win over their opponents. Then the No. 19 ranked doubles pair of Loic Cloes and Clement Marzol bested the No. 77 ranked duo of Alberto Barroso-Camp and Pierre Luqet, 6-4 for the win and the Jags point.
The Jaguars came out in the singles matches and played South Florida hard, taking all but two matches into three sets. The matches that didn't go the full distance were Cloes vs. Luqet and No. 28 Barroso-Camp vs. Modica. Cloes won in straight sets, both in a 7-5 fashion. Modica fell, 7-6 and 6-2 on court one.
Serrano defeated his South Florida opponent 6-2 in the third set to get the Jaguars within one point of the match win but Ivan Yatsuk and Jacob Wojic for the Bulls edged out Louis Delcour and Maxime Lapraille for the Jaguars respectively to earn the win for USF.
DOUBLES
(1) No. 19 Cloes/Marzol def. No. 77 Barroso-Camp/Luqet, 6-4.
(2) Modica/Serrano def. Wojcik/Yatsuk, 6-2.
(3) Lapraille/Delcour vs. Ferguson/Gomez Montesa, 4-4, unfinished.
Order of finish: 2,1
SINGLES
(1) No. 29 Alberto Barroso-Camp def. Sacha Modica, 7-6, 6-2.
(2) Chase Ferguson def. Clement Marzol, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1.
(3) Loic Cloes def. Pierre Luqet, 7-5, 7-5.
(4) Jacob Wojcik def. Maxime Lapraille, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
(5) Sam Serrano def. Sergio Gomez Montesa, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
(6) Ivan Yatsuk def. Louis Delcour, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Order of finish: 2,3,1,5,6,4
NOTES
- The Jaguars earned the doubles point for the third consecutive match, and Cloes and Marzol improved to 6-4 on the spring season.
- South Florida ended South Alabama's ten-game winning streak, the Jags last defeat came to UC-Santa Barbara back on Jan. 26.
- Cloes has won five matches in a row, one went unfinished, dating back to Feb. 16 vs. Belmont.
UP NEXT
The Jaguars remain in Jacksonville, Fla., to take on North Florida at the UNF Tennis Complex. First serve is set for 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 16.
QUOTES
Head Coach Nick Brochu
On the match: "This one is definitely going to hurt, but at the same time what a great battle! Two teams ranked about the same. We're both were going on winning streaks, we had 10 in a row. South Florida is coming off a very good win, having won eight of the last nine matches. Both teams were confident, playing high. It was just a battle, a lot of three setters, momentum changing constantly."
"I think we need to look back at and focus on some key points, I think we got a little too passive. Especially early in the first sets. After we dropped we should have came back tougher. We came back strong and these guys competed so hard. In a close match like this it could go either way. 4-3, we had three match points and we saved six match points. It doesn't get any closer than that. So we have to relax, drink a lot of water and get ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow is another tough match, and we have to turn today into a positive and react well for the match vs. UNF tomorrow."
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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