JACKSONVILLE, Fla.  – The University of South Alabama men's tennis team defeated No. 73 UNCW 4-3 on Saturday at the UNF Tennis Complex.
 
The Jags jumped out to an early start in doubles as Sébastien Collard and Maxime St-Hilaire won on court two to even things up. Jack Clements and Louis Delcour clinched the doubles point with a victory on court one.
 
In singles, Delcour won in straight sets on court three to put the Jags in front, 2-0. UNCW answered with three straight wins on courts four, five and six to take the lead, 3-2. Collard won in three sets on court two to tie the match at 3-3.  Clements clinched the match for South Alabama with a three-set victory on court one.
 
Date: 2/26
Place: UNF Tennis Complex
Records: South Alabama 9-3, UNCW 5-4
 
DOUBLES
1. Clements/Delcour (USA) def. Davide Innocenti/Reece Falck (UNCW) 7-5
2. Collard/St-Hilaire (USA) def. Trey Mallory/Gabe Hurtado (UNCW) 6-4
3. Dillon Gooch/Bekhzod Rasamatov (UNCW) def. Martin Bugaj/Javier Montoya (USA) 6-1
Order of Finish: (3,2,1)
 
SINGLES
1. Clements (USA) def. Rasamatov (UNCW) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
2. Collard (USA) def. Ralck (UNCW) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
3. Delcour (USA) def. Innocenti (UNCW) 6-2, 6-0
4. Harold Huens (UNCW) def. St-Hilaire (USA) 6-0, 7-5
5. Hurtado (UNCW) def. Bugaj (USA) 7-6(5), 6-2
6. Mallory (UNCW) def. Montoya (USA) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
Order of Finish: (3,4,5,6,2,1)
 
NOTES
- The Jags are now 1-2 all-time against UNCW.
- The 9-3 record through 12 games is the best start since the 2019 team started 10-2.
- Delcour improved to 8-2 in his last 10 matches in singles.
- Clements and Delcour are tied for second on the team with 13 wins in doubles competition this season. St-Hilaire leads the team with 14 wins in doubles action.
- Collard has won 52 matches in his singles career.
- Collard and St-Hilaire have won six out of their last seven matches in doubles as a duo.
- Clements is now 8-1 in singles action this spring.
 
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Nick Brochu
- On today's performance:
"What a match and what a battle. It was a little up and down. We knew doubles was a big point. They played a long match yesterday against North Florida. So, we knew that they were going to be a little tired and our strategy was to take the doubles point. We didn't play well at number three and we closed the match at number two. It came down to number one and we were down a break. But, we were able to play some big tennis and get some big points. We were able to come back and close it in great fashion by breaking them again. So, that was awesome to see and to get the doubles point and we could feel the momentum into singles. We had a great start in singles. We won four first sets, which it looked like at one point it was going to be a quick match for us. But, credit to UNCW, they are really fought hard. Even in the matches that we won, they took it to three sets. That is what college tennis is all about, the minute you think you have them, that is when they come back and that is what they did today. At one point, they were one point away from winning. It was three-all and it came down to Jack [Clements] at number one. He was down 5-3 in the third set and he was exhausted. We had all the guys on the side cheering and he used those guy's energy out there. We helped him carry it all the way to the finish line and just such a great effort from Jack. We had big wins on number one, two and three today. It was just tremendous tennis that we played. We always talk about the guys who finish and clinch at the end. So, Jack today was the big hero. But, we can't forget the guys who got us the early points. Our captain Louis [Delcour] played some massive tennis and put us on the board really early to put us up 2-0 and really took a lot of pressure off of a lot of the other guys. It was a great team win, the energy and emotion was high and we definitely learned a lot from today. Now we have to recover because we have a big match tomorrow.
 
UP NEXT
- The Jags will take on North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. on Sunday at 9 a.m. (CST).
 
—USA—