Box Score MOBILE, Ala. – The Wolf Pack men's tennis team dropped a 4-1 contest to NAIA No. 17 SCAD Savannah on Saturday to close out the SSAC/Sun/AAC crossover challenge.
Loyola is now 2-2 on the season, with the only two losses coming in hard-fought contests against ranked NAIA teams SCAD and No. 16 Reinhardt.
SCAD had several players ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in singles and doubles. One of those, No. 23 Adam Jaupart, lost his first set against Loyola freshman Sam Izrael, though he did win the next two to clinch the match for the Bees.
Izrael and Samuel Motazed also were leading 5-4 in their court 2 doubles match with the No. 21 team of Mark Tryakshin and Diego Fernandez, but SCAD clinched the doubles point before their match could finish.
The highlight in singles for the Wolf Pack was freshman Alfredo Gallegos, who triumphed in his court 6 match (1-6, 6-4, 6-3) to complete a 3-0 week in singles. He's now 4-0 in the spring after a win against Nicholls last week.
Loyola's tennis teams will play an exhibition against Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College on Tuesday next week before returning to NAIA competition on Friday with a match at Dillard.
"We were fortunate to have the opportunity to see how we can compete with some of the top NAIA teams. We played well and learned a ton. Beating SCAD Atlanta definitively and having match point to potentially beat Reinhardt was huge progress for our program. SCAD Savannah is another top team and we fought hard in tough matches on day 3.
Akhil was nominated for the all tournament award. He has been an outstanding competitor and leader this season. Alfredo going 3-0 in singles as a freshman was great for his confidence. We had a lot of guys play great honestly and if we can become more consistent and confident in certain situations we will make huge progress.
We now know how close we are to becoming a great team. We need to work on a few things and stay focused. Our men are proud of their effort this week. If we can keep improving like this we will be ready for our SSAC schedule."
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Results
Loyola – 1
#17 SCAD Savannah – 4
Doubles
1. #3 Lopez/Ozernoy (SCAD) def. Hebhang-Balan/Indrabalan (LOYNO) 6-4
2. Izrael/Motazed (LOYNO) vs. #21 Tryakshin/Fernandez (SCAD) 5-4, unfinished
3. Abdelazziz/Jaupart (SCAD) def. De Preville/Gallegos (LOYNO) 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 1
Singles
1. #5 Daniel Ozernoy (SCAD) def. Remus Hebhang-Balan (LOYNO) 6-2, 6-3
2. Hippolyte de Preville (LOYNO) vs. #25 Mark Tryakshin (SCAD) 6-3, 4-6, 4-5, unfinished
3. #23 Adam Jaupart (SCAD) def. Sam Izrael (LOYNO) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Diego Fernandez (SCAD) def. Akhil Indrabalan (LOYNO) 6-2, 7-5
5. Spencer Matz (LOYNO) vs. Patricio Medrano (SCAD) 4-6, 6-4, 2-0
6. Alfredo Gallegos (LOYNO) def. Ahmed Abdelaziz (SCAD) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 4, 6, 3
