NEW ORLEANS- Despite a close matchup, the Georgia Southern men's tennis team was knocked out of the Sun Belt Championship quarterfinals by No.2 seed South Alabama on Friday. The Jaguars escaped an upset by the Eagles 4-2 at the City Park Pepsi Tennis Center in New Orleans.

"I have to give credit to South Alabama. It was a clean, competitive match, with ups and downs from both sides. Unfortunately, we got the short end of the stick," head coach Sander Koning said. "Our guys played with all their heart and that's all I can ask for."

Throughout the match, both teams traded points until the very end. USA won the doubles point from victories on courts two and three but JC Alcala tied it up with his dominant win at the No.2 singles spot.

The Jags pulled ahead when Olivier Gingras defeated Dani Casablancas until Ze Moya tied it back at two points each with his line three win. Both Eddie Landin and Christian Kerrigan took their matches into the third set, where they both eventually fell which secured the W for South Alabama. At the No.1 position, Rise Lanne went neck-and-neck with the Sun Belt's Athlete of the Year Turki Jacobs. Both of them won a set 7-5 before the match was clinched.
With today's result, the Eagles finished 15-8 throughout the spring season. Their record is the best in program history since 1988.

"I commend the guys for having a good season, and looking back from a year ago, we made some strides. It tells me we are on the right track as a program, and we have the right guys to make this program great," head coach Sander Koning said. "All of this would not be possible without their hard work and the leadership on this team. This ending to the season feels undeserved, and the guys have to use it as fuel to keep working hard so we can come back and do it right next year. I believe we will really breakthrough as a program when we do that."

South Alabama Jaguars 4, Georgia Southern Eagles 2
 
Singles competition
1. Tuki Jacobs (USA) vs. RiseLanne (GS) 7-5, 5-7, 0-0, unfinished
2. JC Alcala (GS) def. Tim Srkala (USA) 6-2, 6-1
3. Ze Moya (GS) def. Juan Troglia (USA) 6-4, 6-3
4. Olivier Gingras (USA) def. Dani Casablancas (GS) 6-4, 6-2
5. Gerhard Gruindelingh (USA) def. Eddie Landin (GS) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. Lucas Gonzalez (USA) def. Christian Kerrigan (GS) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
 
Doubles competition
1. Olivier Gingras/Gerhard Gruindelingh (USA) vs. Dani Casablancas/Rise Lanne (GS) 2-5, unfinished
2. Tim Srkala/Dallas Teague (USA) def. Christian Kerrigan/Ze Moya (GS) 6-3
3. Tuki Jacobs/Juan Troglia (USA) def. JC Alcala/Eddie Landin (GS) 6-2
 
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