MOBILE, Ala. – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's tennis team finished up the SSAC Round-up on Saturday with a 4-3 victory against Florida National.
Going 2-1 at the annual conference Roundup, the Wolf Pack's record is now 8-7, 4-2 in SSAC play. The team's four conference wins are tied for the most in program history with the 2017 and 2018 teams, which each also had four wins. The Wolf Pack's eight victories this year are also the most since 2018.
Francisco Javier Arce Vieyra and Samuel Motazed continued to play well at No. 1 doubles, as they earned a 6-3 win, but Florida National took the doubles points with wins on courts 2 and 3.
The Wolf Pack made up for it in singles, though. Arce Vieyra, Remus Hebhang-Balan, and Theo Debackere all won in straight sets to give Loyola a 3-1 lead in the match.
FNU won the next two singles matches to tie things up, but Tiger Cheung came through on court 5, beating his opponent 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 to clinch the match for the Pack.
Loyola has two more matches this season. Next up on the schedule is the last home match of the year, a noon contest against St. Thomas (Fla.) on Friday, April 7 at New Orleans City Park.
"The men's team played inspired, competitive, and physical tennis this week. This group has turned around a difficult beginning to our season and decided they were going to keep working, keep believing and keep trusting each other. It's clearly paid off. Lesser men would not have made this turnaround.
"4-2 in the conference for both teams coming out of this week is a great step forward. I'm very proud of our teams and the culture we're building. We're building around mental and physical toughness, believing in yourself, and playing for each other.
"We have many goals still on the table for this season. We have a ton of work yet to do. We're going to keep grinding these next few weeks to prepare for the SSAC Championship tournament."
You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
Results
Loyola – 4
Florida National – 3
Doubles
1. Arce Vieyra/Motazed (LOYNO) def. Opperman/Fujita (FNU) 6-3
2. Gentile/Particelli (FNU) def. de Preville/Debackere (LOYNO) 6-4
3. Ayguavives/Stefanacci (FNU) def. Aure/Hebhang-Balan (LOYNO) 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. Francisco Javier Arce Vieyra (LOYNO) def. Jerry Makela (FNU) 6-1, 6-4
2. Theo Debackere (LOYNO) def. Jules Grignon (FNU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Remus Hebhang-Balan (LOYNO) def. Umberto Particelli (FNU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Guido Gentile (FNU) def. Samuel Motazed (LOYNO) 6-1, 6-7, 6-3
5. Tiger Cheung (LOYNO) def. David De Ayguavives (FNU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
6. Luigi Stefanacci (FNU) def. Herman Aure (LOYNO) 6-1, 1-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2, 6, 4, 5
