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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Despite having the advantage after winning the doubles point, No. 2 seeded University of North Florida men's tennis was only able to capture two singles victories and dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun Men's Tennis Tournament Championship Match on Monday at the UNF Tennis Complex.
 
"We asked our guys to have heart. We asked our guys to compete with everything they have. They did that; we just came up a little short," said head coach Mark Finnegan. "I've got no regrets with how we played the match. Florida Gulf Coast played superb. They are well-coached and executed when they needed to.
 
"Our future is bright here are UNF," continued Finnegan. "We were on fire midway through the season and then battled some adversity. We kept fighting. We lose just one player next year and we are bringing in some great recruits. It's nothing but going up for UNF tennis."
 
The Ospreys, who are ranked No. 73 nationally, won a pair of tie-break doubles matches on Sunday in order to go up 1-0. Alberto De Meo and Yannick Zuern outlasted Tianyu Bao and Andres Alfonzo 8-7 (3) on the No. 3 court. Then Norbert Nemcsek and Julian Bradley quickly followed with a doubles-clinching 8-7 (4) win over Ricky Ventura and Lucas Vaz at No. 2 doubles.
 
Singles play got started on Sunday, but each court was only able to get in a couple of points before inclement weather came through the Jacksonville area. That forced the match to resume on Monday morning.
 
The first two completed singles matches came almost simultaneously. Jordi Vives held off Norbert Nemcsek's attempt at a second set comeback in order to win 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 singles. However, Yannick Zuern cruised past Andres Alfonzo 6-3, 6-1 on the No. 2 court and UNF held a 2-1 lead.
 
Lasse Muscheites gave the Ospreys a 3-1 lead after downing Bao 6-2, 6-2 on the No. 4 court.
 
Wins at the No. 6 and No. 5 courts by the Eagles evened the match at 3-3. Michael Beiler defeated De Meo 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6, followed by Eduardo Alfonzo's 6-4, 6-2 win over Zach Goldberg at No. 5 singles.
 
Bradley attempted to fight back in the second set against Ventura, but was unable to gain an advantage in the set as Ventura registered a match-winning 6-1, 6-4 No. 3 singles victory.
 
Following the conclusion of the match, the All-Tournament Team was announced. Muscheites was the lone Osprey representative after he went 2-0 in singles and 1-0 with Goldberg in doubles. Among Muscheites' wins was a three-set match-winner in the semifinals against USC Upstate.
 
UNF now waits to hear on its NCAA Tournament fate for the Team, Singles and Doubles Championships.
 
Match Results
No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast 4, No. 2 North Florida 3
Singles Competition:
No. 1 – Jordi Vives (FGCU) def. Norbert Nemcsek (UNF) 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 – Yannick Zuern (UNF) def. Andres Alfonzo (FGCU) 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 – Ricky Ventura (FGCU) def. Julian Bradley (UNF) 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 – Lasse Muscheites (UNF) def. Tianyu Bao (FGCU) 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 – Eduardo Alfonzo (FGCU) def. Zach Goldberg (UNF) 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 – Michael Beiler (FGCU) def. Alberto De Meo (UNF) 6-3, 6-3
 
Doubles Competition:
No. 1 – Lasse Muscheites/Zach Goldberg (UNF) vs. Jordi Vives/Eduardo Alfonzo (FGCU) 6-7, unfinished
No. 2 – Norbert Nemcsek/Julian Bradley (UNF) def. Ricky Ventura/Lucas Vas (FGCU) 8-7 (4)
No. 3 – Alberto De Meo/Yannick Zuern (UNF) def. Tianyu Bao/Andres Alfonzo (FGCU) 8-7 (3)
 
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 2); Singles (1, 2, 4, 6, 5, 3)