MOBILE, Ala. – The No. 24 Loyola University New Orleans men's tennis team made program history on Friday, defeating Tennessee Southern 4-1 to advance to the program's first-ever SSAC Championship match.
The Wolf Pack (7-4) took control early with the two doubles wins before closing out the match with three singles victories.
Loyola opened doubles with a strong showing on court 1, as the No. 32 duo of Sam Izrael and Alfredo Gallegos earned a 6-4 win. After Tennessee Southern evened things up on court 2, Hippolyte de Preville and Jett Nguyen battled to a 7-5 victory on court 3 over the 49th-ranked doubles team in the NAIA to clinch the doubles point.
In singles play, the Firehawks picked up a point at the top spot after a strong win from freshman Luca Abati (6-2, 6-2) on court 5. Alfredo Gallegos followed with a 6-2, 6-3 victory on court 3, and Samuel Marin delivered the clincher on court 4, winning 6-3, 6-2 to send the Wolf Pack into the championship match.
Two additional matches went unfinished, including No. 60 Sam Izrael's battle on court 2, where he had rebounded from a first-set loss and led in the third. Nguyen also was one game away from winning his match on court 6.
Loyola's men's team will face No. 6 William Carey in Saturday's SSAC Championship match at 10 a.m. at the Mobile Tennis Center.
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Results
No. 24 Loyola – 4
(RV) Tennessee Southern – 1
Doubles
1. #32 Izrael/Gallegos (LOYNO) def. Hamilton/Ferron (UTS) 6-4
2. Kousis/Cupertino de Santana (UTS) def. Abati/Marin (LOYNO) 6-4
3. de Preville/Nguyen (LOYNO) def. #49 Audisio/Roveda (UTS) 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1. Luis Guilherme Cupertino de Santana (UTS) def. Hippolyte de Preville (LOYNO) 6-2, 6-3
2. #60 Sam Izrael (LOYNO) vs. Quentin Ferron (UTS) 3-6, 6-1, 3-1, unfinished
3. Alfredo Gallegos (LOYNO) def. Ayden Kousis (UTS) 6-2, 6-3
4. Samuel Marin (LOYNO) def. Gaspar Audisio (UTS) 6-3, 6-2
5. Luca Abati (LOYNO) def. Ryosuke Furuya (UTS) 6-2, 6-2
6. Jett Nguyen (LOYNO) Daiki Ishii (UTS) 6-4, 5-3, unfinished
Order of finish: 5, 1, 3, 4
