JACKSONVILLE, Florida – The Georgia Southern men's tennis team fought hard but ultimately fell just short in a 3-4 loss to North Florida Saturday on the road.
 
The Eagles (2-5) got off to a decent start after Murphy McCullough and Santiago Suarez gained a 6-0 win over Nilo Duarte and Federico Nani in doubles play. Diego Finkelstein Alexandros Roumpis also defeated Joe Ellis Patrick Kotan 6-4 to earn the team doubles point early.
 
The Ospreys (1-0) took the first two singles points before Pascal Wagemaker won 6-1, 7-5 over Federico Nani from the three spot to even the match 2-2. The teams again traded singles points from the six and four positions including an Alexandros Roumpis 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Matt Carroll. The deciding match then went the way of UNF for the team win.
 
What head coach Sander Koning said:
"It was a tough battle today. Murphy and Santi played very solid and Diego and Alex served it out great." We started slow in singles but fought our way back and even had match points to win it. We put ourselves in position to win, now we just have to kick in the door moving forward. Tomorrow will be a good opportunity for that."
 
Singles
1. Dominik Barton (UNF) def. Murphy McCullough (GS) 6-4, 6-2
2. Nilo Duarte (UNF) def. Diego Finkelstein (GS) 6-1, 7-5
3. Pascal Wagemaker (GS) def. Federico Nani (UNF) 6-1, 7-5
4. Alexandros Roumpis (GS) def. Matt Carroll (UNF) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. Joe Ellis (UNF) def. Jonathan Morales (GS) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Patrick Kotan (UNF) def. Valentin Dun (GS) 6-4, 6-4
 
Doubles
1. Murphy McCullough/Santiago Suarez (GS) def. Nilo Duarte/Federico Nani (UNF) 6-0
2. Dominik Barton/Matt Carroll (UNF) def. Jonathan Morales/Pascal Wagemaker (GS) 6-2
3. Diego Finkelstein/Alexandros Roumpis (GS) def. Joe Ellis/Patrick Kotan (UNF) 6-4
 
Next Up
The Eagles host both Gardner-Webb and South Carolina State Sunday at 11:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. respectively.