CONWAY, S.C. | South Alabama got a 5-2 win over Coastal Carolina Saturday afternoon to secure the title of co-regular season champions for the 2023 season.
 
The Chanticleers struck first in doubles, with the doubles pairing of Carlos Berna Ruiz and Ryuya Ata beating Louis Delcour and Javier Montoya 6-1. South evened the doubles score after a 6-3 win from Sebastien Collard and Martin Bugaj at number two, beating Maj Tomac and Guilherme Toresan.
 
Coastal Carolina took a 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point, following a 6-4 win at number one from Steve Mundt and Lucas Wayenburg over Jack Clements and Maxime St-Hilaire.
 
Down 1-0, the Jags turned their attention to singles, where they came out hot, winning first sets on all six courts, eventually winning in straight sets on five of six courts.
 
Jack Clements struck first for the Jaguars, beating Lucas Wayenburg 6-3, 7-5 to tie the match at 1-1.
 
At number two, Maxime St-Hilaire got a 6-2, 6-2 win over Maj Tomac to give South Alabama the 2-1 advantage. The win was his 16^th of the season, the most of any Jaguar this year.
 
Javier Montoya then got a 6-4, 6-2 win at number six over Steve Mundt, putting South Alabama up 3-1.
 
Fifth-year senior Louis Delcour clinched the match, and the title of regular season co-champions, with a 6-2, 7-5 win from number three singles, beating Guilherme Toresan of Coastal Carolina.
 
At number five singles, Martin Bugaj got a 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) win over Ryuya Ata got South to go up 5-1 over the Chanticleers.
 
Coastal earned one singles win on the day, with Carlos Berna Ruiz issuing Sebastien Collard his first conference loss of the year, beating him 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) at number one.
 
South (14-7, 7-1) closes out its regular season slate with a nonconference match at UNC Wilmington Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
Match Results
April 15, 2023
11 am – Conway, S.C.
Singles
1. Berna Ruiz, Carlos (CCU) def. Sebastien Collard (USA) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
2. Maxime St-Hilaire (USA) def. Tomac, Maj (CCU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Louis Delcour (USA) def. Toresan, Guilherme (CCU) 6-2, 7-5
4. Jack Clements (USA) def. Wayenburg, Lucas (CCU) 6-3, 7-5
5. Martin Bugaj (USA) def. Ata, Ryuya (CCU) 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)
6. Javier Montoya (USA) def. Mundt, Steve (CCU) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1. Mundt, Steve/Wayenburg, Lucas (CCU) def. Jack Clements/Maxime St-Hilaire (USA) 6-4
2. Sebastien Collard/Martin Bugaj (USA) def. Tomac, Maj/Toresan, Guilherme (CCU) 6-3
3. Berna Ruiz, Carlos/Ata, Ryuya (CCU) def. Louis Delcour/Javier Montoya (USA) 6-1
 
Quotable from coach Nick Brochu
"Great match by the boys. It's hard sometimes not to get ahead of yourself and today we knew there was a lot on the line by winning today. Not only are we the regular season champs, but we also earned the number one seed, which is big. That is something we haven't been able to accomplish as a team, so that is a big accomplishment but first we had to win today. we've had a great conference season, and I am not saying the guys the guys looked past today, but we came out flat in doubles and I was really mad. We talked about having a big start and grabbing the momentum and keeping it into singles and we did the complete opposite. We started really flat, we gave them early opportunities to take the lead and made too many mistakes. At the same time, Coastal came out swinging and played good doubles, taking the point. The only positive is that we made so many mistakes that it was up to us, if we fixed our game then we were able to turn it around and that's exactly what we did. We won the first set on every single court. The guys really responded well but in doubles, definitely not happy with how we performed and competed. We have to fix that because once we get into the conference tournament, we can't take any chances.
 
In singles, it was a good battle. At one point it looked like we were going to cruise, but then Coastal put up a fight and made some matches very close. Overall, very proud. The guys earned the number one spot, they worked really hard at practice. Of course, we are going after the trophy because winning the conference championship gets you that automatic bid but at the same time, winning the regular season is a good pat on the back. It's just a reminder you have been working hard and playing well, day in and day out. Now we have UNC Wilmington tomorrow, they aren't in our conference, it's just an additional match we scheduled so we are going to go out there and compete and fix the things that didn't work today. we are looking to have very explosive doubles."
 
Up Next
South Alabama closes out its regular season slate at UNC Wilmington Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
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