01/24/06–
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NO. 62 JAGUAR TENNIS OPENS SEASON BY BLANKING
FLORIDA ATLANTIC, 7-0
CONTACT:
Kit Strief
Box
Score
MOBILE,
Ala. - The University of South Alabama men's tennis team
opened the 2006 season with a 7-0 shutout of visiting Florida Atlantic
at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Courts on Tuesday. With the victory,
No. 62 South Alabama improves to 1-0 overall, while FAU falls to
0-3.
"It was an impressive start to the season," Jaguar head
coach Scott Novak said. "It's fun to have a team that has so
much enthusiasm and sometimes enthusiasm is more important than
experience. We proved that today."
The Jaguars came out on fire in the doubles portion of the match,
sweeping all three matches. First off the court was the no. 2 position
as sophomore transfers Robert Hodell and Jack Baker put away Gianfranco
Dossena and Mauricio Pariz, 8-5. Next, sophomore Sam Huffman and
freshman Fillip Kricka posted an 8-3 decision over Akin Akman and
J.P. Bounassar to win the team point.
At the top spot in doubles, Jaguar junior Dias Doskarayev and sophomore
newcomer Monte Tucker tallied an 8-2 decision over FAU's Kevin Obletz
and David Demers.
Leading 1-0 the teams headed into the singles portion of the match.
USA's sophomore R.J. Nagel playing at the six position, dispatched
in quick fashion of his opponent, Akman, 6-0, 6-2 to give the Jaguars
a 2-0 lead.
Moments later, Baker, playing at no. 3, handed FAU's Bounassar his
first duel match loss of the season, 6-2, 6-1, to put the Jaguars
up 3-0. Doskarayev posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Obletz at the
no. 1 position to seal the victory for USA.
Tucker, a transfer from Illinois, pulled out a hard-fought three
set match against Demers, 2-6, 6-0, 6-1 at the no. 2 position giving
USA a 5-0 lead. Freshman Marek Sramek, playing at no. 5 and finishing
sixth, defeated Pariz 6-3, 7-5. Gellard needed a 7-1 second set
tiebreak to dispose of Dossena, 6-0, 7-6 (7-1) for the sweep.
"Florida Atlantic has a good team and they played a top 10
Florida State team very tough two days ago," Novak said. "We
knew coming into this match we would have to play very well to get
a win."
The Jaguars return to the court on Friday, Feb. 3 for a doubleheader
beginning at 8:30 a.m. against North Florida. USA also will play
Stetson at 1:30 p.m.
"Realistically we have a lot of holes to fill in and e will
take a few lumps early on, but today we started the season well,"
Novak said.
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