STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern men's tennis fell to North Florida 5-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Wallis Tennis Center, in their season opener. The Eagles fell to 0-1 on the year, while UNF improves to 1-1. 

Georgia Southern started the afternoon hot with a victory over the No. 56 doubles team in the country. Pascal Wagemaker and Alexandros Roumpis defeated the team of Dominik Barton and Matt Carroll 6-3. Tao Castillo and Murphy McCullough gutted out a 7-6 (8-6) victory on court two to clinch the Eagles doubles point.

In singles play the Osprey would jump into a lead, pushing the score to 3-2, before clinching the match on court three. Valentin Dun won his match in straight sets on court four, while Jean Sibel defeated PJ Kotan in three sets.

The Eagles will now head to Tallahassee, Florida next Saturday to face off against Florida State University. First serve is scheduled for 10 a.m.

WHAT COACH KONING HAD TO SAY
"Tough match today. We played really well in doubles and made some tough points when we needed to. Tao and Murphy really showed some good poise in their doubles match. In singles, we backed off when we had the opportunity to finish or expand the lead. Good teams aren't going to give you the match, you have to take it and we didn't do that today. We will learn from it and do better next week."

RESULTS
Singles
Dominik Barton (UNF) def. Pascal Wagemaker 6-2, 6-4
Nilo Duarte (UNF) def. Murphy McCullough 6-2, 7-6
Matt Carroll (UNF) def. Tao Castillo 3-6, 7-5, 6-1
Valentin Dun def. Federico Nani (UNF) 6-3, 6-2
Jean Sibel def. PJ Kotan (UNF) 7-6, 2-6, 6-4
Rodrigo Crespo (UNF) def. Jonathan Morales 6-4, 7-5

Doubles
Wagemaker/Roumpis def. #56 Barton/Carroll (UNF) 6-3
Castillo/McCullough def. Nani/Nunez (UNF) 7-6 (8-6)
Duarte/Crespo (UNF) def. Sibel/Dun 6-3