OXFORD, Miss. – Javier Montoya defeated the No. 84 ranked player in the country in Georgia Southern's Dimitris Paliouras, but South Alabama dropped its first road match of the 2025 season to Georgia Southern, 5-2, at Ole Miss' William F. Galtney Indoor Tennis Center.
 
The setback dropped South to 1-1 for the season.

"It was a good match for most of us, but you could tell some of the guys were rusty," said South Alabama head coach Nick Brochu. "Our guys fought well, but we had a lot of ups and downs and that's what cost us the match. We can't play a roller-coaster match like that and expect to win. On the individual side, Javier wants our team to win the conference but also wants to prove he's one of the best players in the conference. Today he did that. He beat the highest ranked player in the conference, so he's showing that he's ready. He did his job today."
 
Georgia Southern jumped out to a quick lead in doubles play with 6-3 and 6-1 victories at spots one and two. Juan Accossatto and Harold van Raemdonck were holding serve in the third spot, but saw their match go unfinished once the Eagles had clinched the doubles point.
 
Montoya and van Raemdonck both put together strong performances in their respective doubles matches to give the Jags a lift after falling in doubles. Montoya won his first set 6-4 before dropping the second set 6-1 to force a super tiebreak. Montoya jumped out to an early lead in that third-set tiebreak and held on to win it 10-8. van Raemdonck made quick work of his opponent, winning 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets.
 
South Alabama will be in action again Sunday and will face the loser of Tulane and Ole Miss at 11 a.m. CT.
 
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