AUBURN, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's tennis team continued qualifying play in singles and doubles on Friday at the ITA Regionals at Auburn.

Sébastien Collard won two matches in the qualifying rounds in singles to advance to the main draw on Saturday. Collard will participate in the doubles side of the main draw with Maxime St-Hilaire.

The main draw in singles competition will begin at 9:00 a.m. Saturday.

MATCH INFORMATION
Date: 10/15
Place: Yarbrough Tennis Courts (Auburn, Ala.)
Teams: Alabama, Alabama State, Alcorn State, Auburn, Jacksonville State, Louisiana, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Samford, Southern Miss, Troy, Tulane and UAB.

SINGLES (Qualifying/Main Draw)
- Grandinot (ALA ST) def. St-Hilaire (USA) 6-1, 7-5
- Kuenkler (TULANE) def. Louis Delcour (USA) 6-3, 7-6(3)
- Collard (USA) def. Cadonau (OLE MISS) 6-0, 6-3
- Collard (USA) def. Bancila (TULANE), 7-5, 4-6, 6-1

DOUBLES (Qualifying/Main Draw)
- Tomac/Dobrnjak (JSU) def. Delcour/Montoya 8-2

SINGLES (Consolation)
- Podzemny (UAB) def. Javier Montoya 6-4, 6-4

NOTES
- No team results will be recorded.
- Collard is 15-0 the last two seasons in singles tournament action.

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Nick Brochu
- On the Sébastien at ITA Regionals: "Seb [Collard] was a warrior today. The first match this morning went three sets and Seb had to refocus. He started off great and was cruising and the other guy came back and won the second set. We told Seb to relax after he got a little tight in the second set. Sometimes when you see a finish line, the pressure is on you and you have to close the match out. So, it added a little bit of frustration but we regrouped in the third set. We decided to stay loose and be more aggressive with his position on the court and it made such a difference. He closed the match out pretty quickly after that. His second match, we were honest with him. We told him his legs were going to be tired and he won't be as explosive as usual. So, he had to play closer to the baseline and keep short points. His opponent had a huge serve but Seb is one of our best returners. He was able to neutralize his opponent's strength right from the beginning. Seb was returning the ball great and was serving it great too. He was able to get a quick 6-0 first set and that helped his confidence. He played amazing and is such a champion. I'm very proud of him and he was really composed. Now, he's in the main draw. In doubles, we are still working on gelling together. Louis and Javy [Montoya] had too many mistakes. They would have a good point and then a bad point. They just have to get more consistent with their strategies. Overall, I thought the effort today was good."

- On the Louis and Max at ITA Regionals: "It was a very hot day and physically demanding. Everybody is toasted right now. But, everybody fought really hard. It was a good day on the physical side. Louis [Delcour] had a very physical battle and both players were exhausted. The only problem was that we just made too many mistakes and was playing short the whole set. He made a huge comeback but it was just a little too late and his opponent was able to win in a tiebreaker. If he would have been able to play the match from the beginning like he did when he was down 5-1, he would be sitting here with a win. We have to learn from this and not give away free games and free points. If we are a little down, we just have to reset. With Max [St-Hilaire], it just wasn't a good day. But, he played some stubborn tennis but kept trying to put pressure on his opponent. He kept trying to use a certain style of tennis that wasn't working today. He's a freshman and he's going to make some mistakes and he can learn from this. He's played great in some tournaments this fall but today just wasn't his day."


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—