BOCA RATON, Fla. | South Alabama fell behind early and couldn't hold off the Florida Atlantic momentum, dropping the road match with the No. 63 ranked Owls, 5-2.
South claimed the first doubles win of the day, with the duo of
Sebastien Collard and
Martin Bugaj beating Filip Krolo and Joao Graca of FAU 6-1. The Owls evened the doubles score with a win at number three, where Alberto Colas and Hunter Robbins issued
Juan Accossatto and
Louis Delcour a 6-2 loss.
Attention then turned to court one, where Florida Atlantic came out on top, winning the doubles point with a 6-4 win from Nicolas Acevedo and Kevin Heumpfner over
Jack Clements and
Maxime St-Hilaire.
FAU extended their lead to 2-0 with a win at number one from Alberto Colas, beating
Sebastien Collard 6-0, 6-2. The Owls took a 3-0 advantage with a win at number five, where Alvaro Fernandez Horta beat
Martin Bugaj 6-2, 6-3.
FAU clinched the match with a win from Nicolas Acevedo at number three, where he beat
Louis Delcour in three sets, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
South got its first when of the day from
Javier Montoya, who beat Hunter Robbins at number six, 7-5, 4-6, 10-4.
The Owls extended their lead to 5-1 with a win at number two, where Kevin Huempfner beat
Maxime St-Hilaire 7-5, 2-6, 10-8.
South finished the day with a win from
Jack Clements at number four, where he defeated Filip Krolo in a comeback 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 win.
South (7-6) opens Sun Belt play next weekend at home, hosting Old Dominion on Saturday and James Madison Sunday.
Match Results
March 10, 2023
10 am – Boca Raton, Fla.
Singles
1. Colas, Alberto (FAU-M) def.
Sebastien Collard (USA) 6-0, 6-2
2. Huempfner, Kevin (FAU-M) def.
Maxime St-Hilaire (USA) 7-5, 2-6, 10-8
3. Acevedo, Nicolas (FAU-M) def.
Louis Delcour (USA) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
4.
Jack Clements (USA) def. Krolo, Filip (FAU-M) 4-6, 6-4, 10-6
5. Fernandez Horta, A (FAU-M) def.
Martin Bugaj (USA) 6-2, 6-3
6.
Javier Montoya (USA) def. Robbins, Hunter (FAU-M) 7-5, 4-6, 10-4
Doubles
1. Acevedo, Nicolas/Huempfner, Kevin (FAU-M) def.
Jack Clements/Maxime St. Hilaire (USA) 6-4
2.
Martin Bugaj/
Sebastien Collard (USA) def. Krolo, Filip/Graca, Joao (FAU-M) 6-1
3. Colas, Alberto/Robbins, Hunter (FAU-M) def.
Juan Accossatto/
Louis Delcour (USA) 6-2
Quotable from coach Nick Brochu
"Every year we have a really big battle against FAU and today was another example. We play them every year and it's a good rivalry, it goes way back to when FAU was in the Sun Belt, and we have kept the rivalry going. We have very similar teams year in and year out. It was another great battle, very long. We have been playing very good doubles lately and I think our guys were shocked when we lost in doubles. I think that may have killed our spirit. Some guys got affected more than others.
When we went to singles, I felt that we got knocked down and it took us a while to wake up. We started the match and got down a break on all courts except number six. I think the guys started looking at the scoreboard and thought 'OMG we are getting killed'. Some guys were able to settle down, some guys had a rough day today and weren't able to recover and we found ourselves down 3-0 very quickly. All of sudden, things started turning around. We won the second set at number three and won the first set at number six. It looked like two, three, four and six were going to turn around and get four points right there. The match became extremely close and the guys got motivated. It became a long battle and unfortunately, we were not able to keep up we dropped at number three and they were able to close it right there. We then played the rest of the sets as super breakers and we thought we had all three. Number two came down to a close call that didn't go our way and I think they made a mistake, but sometimes it happens, nobody's perfect.
I thought it was a good battle. Both teams here in Florida were good and competitive. We need to use this going into next week. We've got too really big matches at home and it will be good to be at home. We've got to keep the same level of play and competitive spirit. It's going to be interesting to see the newcomers in the conference, so everybody is excited."
Up Next
South Alabama returns home next weekend and opens conference play against Old Dominion, Saturday, March 18 at 10 a.m.
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