MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola University New Orleans men's tennis season ended on Friday, as the third-seeded Wolf Pack lost to sixth seed Mobile in the opening round of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Championship tournament.
The match began on Thursday and finished Friday due to weather conditions in Montgomery. Mobile's win puts Loyola's 2023 record at 8-10. The eight wins were the most for the program since the spring of 2018, and the team's four conference victories during the season also tied a program best.
Loyola had previously met the Rams in Mobile on March 23, when their opponent held a ranking of No. 25 in the NAIA. While the Wolf Pack took that match 4-3 with four singles wins, Mobile only dropped one singles match on Friday to win the match 4-1.
Remus Hebhang-Balan earned the one singles victory for Loyola, 6-1, 6-3 on Court 3, though Theo Debackere was one game away from taking his match on Court 2, as that went unfinished at 6-2, 5-2.
The Wolf Pack's top three singles players, Debackere, Hebhang-Balan, and Francisco Javier Arce Vieyra all finished the year with seven singles victories, tied for a team high. Arce Vieyra and Samuel Motazed also had seven doubles victories on the season at No. 1 doubles, which lead the Pack.
"Really tough match over a couple days. Mobile played very well. We were in the match up until the last 45 minutes or so, and Mobile raised their level and played just a little better in key moments. It's becoming a really great rivalry between us and Mobile. We go back and forth probably every time we play, and that's been really exciting and a fun process to be a part of.
"Our men's season was one of the best in school history based on matching so many things that happened back in 2018. I'm really proud of Theo Debackere for being All-Conference and playing the best tennis in his career, coming up big for us in so many moments this season. Couldn't be more proud of him, and he deserved to go out with a win today. He was on his way to doing that today, but that doesn't diminish all the work that he and everyone in our program, especially our seniors and grad students, have put in to create a foundation for this program that's going to last for many years.
"We talked at the beginning of the season that we needed to find a group of players that wanted to change the trajectory of our program and change the perception of Loyola tennis. I'm proud to say that these guys believed that and trusted that and they had a vision to change the course of our program. I'm proud to be a part of that, and I loved competing with this team this year. It was my favorite group that I've been a part of. It was fun to compete with them and see how they chose to play this season out and play for each other."
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 – 1
Mobile – 4
Doubles
1. Okano/Verdu (UM) def. Arce Vieyra/Motazed (LOYNO) 6-2
2. Diloreto/Kambara (UM) def. Cheung/Debackere (LOYNO) 6-3
3. Aure/Shiell (LOYNO) vs. Ruiz/Reina (UM) 4-4, unfinished
Order of finish: 1, 2
Singles
1. Francisco Javier Arce Vieyra (LOYNO) vs. Joao Okano (UM) 5-7, 1-5, unfinished
2. Theo Debackere (LOYNO) vs. Luis Perez (UM) 6-2, 5-2, unfinished
3. Remus Hebhang-Balan (LOYNO) def. Aoi Kambara (UM) 6-1, 6-3
4. Santiago Diloreto (UM) def. Samuel Motazed (LOYNO) 6-4, 6-4
5. Sergio Ruiz (UM) def. Tiger Cheung (LOYNO) 6-4, 6-2
6. Alex Verdu (UM) def. Herman Aure (LOYNO) 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: 5, 6, 3, 4
