HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Alcorn Men's Tennis showed resilience Tuesday afternoon as the Braves dropped a 4-0 decision away to Southern Miss inside Southern Miss Tennis Complex in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Despite the final score, the match was more competitive than the result indicated, with three singles matches and one doubles contest left unfinished once the outcome was decided.
In doubles action, Southern Miss (3-4) secured the doubles point behind wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.
The Southern Miss combo of Saheb Sodhi and Eric Perkowski dispatched
Sebastian Griffiths and
Tomas Grime 6-0 at No. 2, while the Golden Eagles' Jose Murariu and Matei Varbanciu handled
Fabian Juarez and
Jorge Prats Navarrete 6-1 at No. 3. At the top spot,
Matthew Holl and
Vicent Llobell Buigues had the match knotted at 3-3 before play was called.
Singles play saw Southern Miss clinch the match win early, but Alcorn (3-9) showed resilience across the board.
The quickest work came at No. 6, where Ritabrata Sarkar defeated
Jorge Prats Navarrete 6-0, 6-0, and at No. 1, where Kale Mize edged
Sebastian Griffiths 6-3, 6-3. Saheb Sodhi took down
Matthew Holl 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 2 spot to seal the victory for Southern Miss.
However, three Alcorn singles players were still very much alive when play concluded.
Vicent Llobell Buigues battled Olle Noltorp to a split set at No. 3, forcing a third set and trailing just 2-1 when the match was called.
Tomas Grime was in the thick of it at No. 4, and
Fabian Juarez had Southern Miss's Matei Varbanciu in a tough spot at No. 5 as well.
Braves interim head coach
Kersten Vanem-Walker remained encouraged by what she saw from her squad and is focused on the road ahead.
"I'm proud of the fight these guys showed today," remarked Vanem-Walker. "When you look at how many matches were still being contested when things wrapped up, that tells you we're competing. I can see the growth from match to match. These guys are improving, they're believing, and as long as we keep that trajectory going, good things are going to happen for this program. That's why we play teams like Southern Miss and Alabama – to test ourselves, and see where we are as a young squad early in the season."
Alcorn returns home to face Texas-Rio Grande Valley at Halls Ferry Tennis Courts on Saturday, Feb. 28, with the match slated for 10 a.m.
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COMPLETE RESULTS
Singles Competition
1. Kale Mize (USM) def.
Sebastian Griffiths (ALC) 6-3, 6-3
2. Saheb Sodhi (USM) def.
Matthew Holl (ALC) 6-2, 6-3
3. Olle Noltorp (USM) vs.
Vicent Llobell Buigues (ALC) 6-2, 6-7, 2-1, unfinished
4. Eric Perkowski (USM) vs.
Tomas Grime (ALC) 6-4, 4-1, unfinished
5. Matei Varbanciu (USM) vs.
Fabian Juarez (ALC) 6-3, 4-2, unfinished
6. Ritabrata Sarkar (USM) def.
Jorge Prats Navarrete (ALC) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles Competition
1. Kale Mize/Jay Temming (USM) vs.
Matthew Holl/
Vicent Llobell Buigues (ALC) 3-3, unfinished
2. Saheb Sodhi/Eric Perkowski (USM) def.
Sebastian Griffiths/
Tomas Grime (ALC) 6-0
3. Jose Murariu/Matei Varbanciu (USM) def.
Fabian Juarez/
Jorge Prats Navarrete (ALC) 6-1
