MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama got back in the win column on Sunday afternoon with a 4-3 win over in-state rival Troy at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.
 
The duo of Jack Clements and Maxime St-Hilaire got South on the board first in doubles with a 6-3 over Jules Fabre and Noah Martens of Troy.
 
The other two sets went into tiebreakers, with the South duo of Sebastien Collard and Martin Bugaj winning at number two 7-6 (7-5) to give the Jags the 1-0 advantage.
 
In singles, South won first sets on three courts, while the Trojans claimed first sets on the other three.
 
Sebastien Collard gave South the 2-0 lead with a win in straight sets, winning 6-3, 6-1 over Troy's Mario Martinez.
 
Troy got on the board with a win at number three from Yeray Andres Pastor, beating Louis Delcour 6-4, 6-2.
 
Javier Montoya got a 7-5, 6-2 win from number six singles over Vito Linares to give South the 3-1 lead.
 
Senior Martin Bugaj clinched the match for South, winning 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 of Troy's Jules Fabre to take a 4-1 advantage.
 
At number four, Noah Martens beat Jack Clements 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to claim another point for Troy.
 
Troy ended the day with another point due to a retirement from South Alabama's Maxime St-Hilaire, giving Carles Anton the 7-6, 2-6, 1-1 win.
 
South (11-7, 4-1) stays at home next weekend, hosting Georgia State and Georgia Southern.
 
Match Results
April 2, 2023
11 am – Lafayette, La.     
Singles
1. Sebastien Collard (USA) def. Martinez, Mario (TROY) 6-3, 6-1
2. Anton, Carles (TROY) def. Maxime St-Hilaire (USA) 7-5, 2-6, 1-1, retired
3. Andres Pastor, Yeray (TROY) def. Louis Delcour (USA) 6-4, 6-2
4. Martens, Noah (TROY) def. Jack Clements (USA) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
5. Martin Bugaj (USA) def. Fabre, Jules (TROY) 6-1, 2-6, 6-0
6. Javier Montoya (USA) def. Llinares, Vito (TROY) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
1. Jack Clements/Maxime St-Hilaire (USA) def. Fabre, Jules/Martens, Noah (TROY) 6-3
2. Sebastien Collard/Martin Bugaj (USA) def. Andres Pastor, Yeray/Anton, Carles (TROY) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Javier Montoya/Louis Delcour (USA) vs. Martinez, Mario/Llinares, Vito (TROY) 6-6, unfinished
 
Quotable from coach Nick Brochu
"Today was big. Last weekend we dropped the ball. We found ourselves in a position to win against Louisiana and we didn't. We were winning the last two matches and we lost both when we only needed one. We needed to have a big week of practice and I think we did. We had a few meetings, looked at ourselves in the mirror. Troy always brings their A game regardless of if they have an amazing record, it's always a massive battle every year. The guys did good. Doubles was contested very closely, the last two matches went to tiebreakers, so we won that point and we knew that the doubles point was big.
 
After that, we had to carry the momentum. Kudos to Troy, they came back and made this a massive match. Maybe on paper we look better, but like I tell my guys, paper doesn't mean anything. Troy really made this a battle. Very proud of my guys, there was a lot of screaming, I told my guys don't play the other guy, play the ball. I thought the guys did a good job. We had a massive fight at number six. Javier kept his composure and closed that. That was a really big match. It all starts with Seb – our number one, our captain, put us on the board really early, that was great.
 
Right now, we are 3-1 in the conference, and we've got to work hard to be 4-1. We've got to finish the season strong and go into the conference tournament. At the end of the day, we wanted the number one seed. We wanted to go undefeated this year in conference play and that's not the case. But like I told the guys, we've won three championships in the last four years, and we've never been number one. At the end of the day, once you get the final site, you've got to beat them all. Let's focus on who we are playing today, and then after this, we will focus on who we are playing next weekend. It's one at a time."
 
Up Next
South Alabama hosts Georgia State Saturday ay 10 a.m.
 
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