CLEMSON, S.C. | South Alabama dropped the doubles point and tried to fight back, but Nebraska's momentum proved to be too much, leading to their third loss of the season at the hands of the Huskers.
The Jags got a quick win at doubles number two, with the doubles duo of Sebastien Collard and
Steyn Dippenaar beating Roni Hietaranta and Lars Johann of Nebraska 6-4. Nebraska evened the doubles score with a win at number one, with Nic Wiedenhorn and Shunya Maruyama beating
Jack Clements and
Maxime St-Hilaire 6-4.
Nebraska clinched the doubles point with a win at number three, where
Martin Bugaj and
Juan Accossatto fell to Leo Linquet and William Gleason 3-6.
With the momentum in Nebraska's favor, attention turned to singles, where the Jags tried to battle back, but fell short. The Jags were down early on every court except number six.
Nebraska extended their lead to 2-0 with a win at number one, with #75 Roni Hietaranta beating #123 Sebastien Collard 6-0, 6-3. The Huskers got another win quickly after, with Lars Johann defeating
Juan Accossatto 6-3, 6-2 at number five.
Nebraska had to retire the match at number four due to an injury, giving
Martin Bugaj the win. The Jags cut the lead to 3-2 with a win at number two, with
Maxime St-Hilaire beating Calvin Mueller of Nebraska 6-4, 6-4.
Nebraska clinched the match with a win at number three, with
Jack Clements dropping his maych against Shunya Maruyama 1-6, 6-3, 2-6.
Javier Montoya's match against William Gleason was unfinished, with Montoya and Gleason splitting sets, Montoya winning the first 7-5 and Gleason claiming the second 6-3.
South looks to get back in the win column next weekend, with matches in Birmingham against UAB and Samford.
Match Results vs Nebraska
January 28, 2023
10 am – Clemson, S.C.
Singles
1. #75 Roni Hietaranta (NEB) def. #123 Sebastien Collard (USA) 6-0, 6-3
2.
Maxime St-Hilaire (USA) def. Calvin Mueller (NEB) 6-4, 6-4
3. Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def.
Jack Clements (USA) 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
4.
Martin Bugaj (USA) def. Leo Linquet (NEB) 2-6, 6-5, retired
5. Lars Johann (NEB) def.
Juan Accossatto (USA) 6-3, 6-2
6.
Javier Montoya (USA) vs. William Gleason (NEB) 7-5, 3-6 DNF
Doubles
1. Nic Wiedenhorn/Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def.
Jack Clements/
Maxime St-Hilaire (USA) 6-4
2. Sebastien Collard/
Steyn Dippenaar (USA) def. Roni Hietaranta/Lars Johann (NEB) 6-4
3. Leo Linquet/William Gleason (NEB) def.
Martin Bugaj/
Juan Accossatto (USA) 6-3
Quotable from coach Nick Brochu
"It was a momentum match. I thought we played great doubles. Number two – Seb and Steyn – really stepped up from yesterday. Today, they were on from the beginning, they came out really aggressive and they won fairly quick. It came down to the other courts and it was very high-level doubles, and it came down to a few points here and there, dropping the last two but one point. Can't be upset about the doubles, we played good doubles.
For singles, we felt like it was going to be a good fight, but what a change of momentum. We felt like we got hit by a truck. We went down extremely fast on in first sets on every court but six. We dropped some sets 6-0, 6-1. Behind number six, everybody was getting killed. It's been a while since I've seen this, but we really turned things around. Jack came back and won his set and all of sudden we are tied. Martin was playing big, and it felt like we were in a battle. A match that looked like it was going to be a complete blow, turned into a three-hour battle. It was great. The guys fought extremely hard. Jack played some big tennis, he showed he won't give up. He was playing high-risk tennis that paid off in the second set, but in the third, he gave too many points here and there.
It was a very close match, we were competitive. We learned a lot today, we learned that even if it looks like we are getting killed, we can slowly crawl back out and make it a challenging match. Very good battle. Even though we are coming back 0-2, we played high-level tennis."
Up Next
South Alabama stays on the road next weekend, traveling to Birmingham for matches against UAB and Samford.
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