Men's Tennis Posts Thrilling 4-3 Upset of No. 42 South Alabama

Monday, March 12

Jacksonville, Fla.

2 pm

University of North Florida

South Alabama

Men's Tennis Posts Thrilling 4-3 Upset of No. 42 South Alabama

3/12/2012 9:12:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Match Results

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – University of North Florida men's tennis battled to an exciting 4-3 upset of No. 42 South Alabama on Monday afternoon at the UNF Tennis Complex. Leonardo Nahar sealed the win for the Ospreys when he fought to a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3 victory over Dauw Kruger at No. 6 singles.

“South Alabama is talented, well-coached and tough,” said head coach Adam Schaechterle. “We expected the doubles point to be a huge factor since USF was 9-3 in doubles coming into the match, and I thought it was our best performance of the year to sweep all three matchups. In singles play, I was proud of how we competed at all six spots. In the end, Leo dug deep and got us the clincher we needed.”

For the second-straight match, UNF claimed all three doubles matches. It was the fourth time this season in which the Ospreys swept the doubles competition. At No. 1, Daniel Sotomarino and Norbert Nemcsek picked up an 8-4 win over Romain Bocaert and Alex Bernard. Julien Belair and Beauregard Treyz also won 8-4 at No. 2 doubles against Hanno Bartsch and Christian Kuehne. Moritz Buerchner and Pedro Davisson won 8-5 against Daniel Leitner and Cody Hall at the No. 3 slot.

The singles competition was a battle between UNF and the Jaguars with four of six matches needing three sets.

UNF jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Belair claimed a 6-3, 6-3 No. 4 singles win over Hall. However, South Alabama made it a 2-1 match with Blake Gregor picking up a 6-1, 7-5 win over Davisson at No. 5 singles.

Buerchner's three-set 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles over Bocaert put the Ospreys ahead 3-1. The Jaguars made it a one-point match once again as Leitner defeated Nemcsek 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. However, Nahar's win at No. 6 clinched it for UNF.

Concluding the day was the No. 2 singles battle between Sotomarino and Bernard, who went to tiebreaking points in all three sets. Bernard won the first set 7-6 (4), but Sotomarino fought back to a 7-6 (3) win to force a deciding third set. However, Bernard took the final set 7-6 (3).

UNF returns to the courts on Tuesday when the Ospreys host No. 43 UNC Wilmington. Match time is set for 2 p.m., from the UNF Tennis Complex.