MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's tennis team was defeated by North Florida 5-2 Saturday afternoon at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts. 

The Jaguars were able to take an early lead 1-0 in the match by winning the doubles point after quick victories on the No. 2 and 3 courts. However, the Ospreys took five out of the six singles matches to earn the dual victory.

North Florida 5, South Alabama 2 (box score)

DOUBLES
-Cami Moreno and Leslie Soto picked up the first win of the day for the Jags over Valentina Mariotto and Summer Yardley at the No. 3 position 6-1. 
-Milka Pasanen and Yurie Takanishi defeated Constanza Gorches and Kendall Nash 6-2 on the No. 2 court to secure the doubles point and give South a 1-0 lead in the match. 

SINGLES
-Lucia Montano defeated Moreno of South Alabama in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 1 position to even the score 1-1.
-Ana Paula Melilo beat Yu Fujioka 6-1, 6-4 on the No. 2 court, giving North Florida a 2-1 advantage. 
-Nash earned a victory over Pasanen on court No. 5 in straight sets 7-6, 6-2 for the Ospreys' third straight singles win, extending their lead to 3-1.
-At the No. 3 position, Nikola Kohoutova bested Gorches 6-2, 7-5 to earn the Jags' lone singles victory, cutting South's deficit in half. 
-Mariotto clinched the dual victory for North Florida by beating Takanishi 7-6, 6-2 on court No. 4. 
-Sean Lodzki defeated Diana Monsalve 7-6, 6-4 at the No. 6 position to finish the day.  

NOTES
-South is now 4-3 in the spring while the Ospreys improved to 5-0.
-Match play was suspended early into singles play due to unsafe playing conditions, with the delay lasted 45 minutes before play resumed.
-The pair of Moreno and Soto won the first match of the day to improve their doubles record to 3-0 this spring. 
-Pasanen and Takanishi earned their third straight doubles win and improved their overall record to 3-1 on the season.
-Kohoutova — the lone Jaguar to earn a singles victory — improved to 5-2 in dual singles this season with her fifth straight victory.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Jaco Keyser 
-On the match: "That was a tough one today. Credit to them, I thought that they played a great match especially in singles. We lost a couple close first sets and if we are able to pull those out it changes the complexion of the match. There are plenty of good things we can build on, but we have to get better on the practice courts."
-On North Florida: "Each year we have a good battle with them. They have won their conference seven or eight years in a row now. They know how to compete; they play hard, and they won some tight sets and were able to run with it." 

Up Next: South Alabama will remain in Mobile to take on Xavier (La.) on Friday, with the match scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (CST).

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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