JMU Takes South Alabama to Limit Tight Home Loss

Sunday, March 17

Harrisonburg, Va.

10 a.m.

James Madison University

South Alabama

3/17/2024 2:17:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison forced two doubles tiebreaks and had four singles matches go to a third set, but South Alabama was able to pull away late for a 5-2 Sun Belt Conference men's tennis victory Sunday at Hillside Courts.

The Jaguars improved to 6-7 on the year and 1-1 in Sun Belt play while the Dukes fell for the second straight outing, dropping to 7-7 and 0-2.

USA took the doubles point by virtue of a tiebreak win on court two, while the visitors claimed two of their four singles wins in three sets.

JMU was led by Julian Lozano and Esteve Agusti, who produced singles wins on courts two and three, respectively. Lozano's straight-set triumph was his sixth consecutive singles win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Doubles Play

South Alabama opened things up with a 6-3 victory on court three, s Juan Accossatto and Harold van Raemdonck downed Harrison Lee and Edson Sanchez.
Courts one and two both would go to a tiebreak, but the Jags clinched the point on court two.
Jumping out to a large lead in the breaker, Rostislav Halfinger and Javier Montoya slipped past Youssef Sadek and Francisco Sinopoli, 7-6 (2).
Lozano and Agusti were about to start the tiebreak on court one against Jack Clements and Braden Hannig when it went unfinished with the bout tied 6-6.

Singles Play

South Alabama doubled its lead to 2-0 with a victory on court five. Sanchez jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first, but van Raemdonck won five straight to take the set and pulled away for a 6-4, 6-2 win.
JMU got on the board on court two, where Lozano and Montoya battled tough from start to finish. Lozano rallied in both sets, taking the match 7-5, 6-4.
USA got a comeback win on court four to extend the lead back. Sinopoli won the first set in a tiebreak after winning seven of the final eight points, but Hannig bounced back taking the next two sets and the win by scores of 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2.
The Jaguars clinched the match on court one, as Clements fended off Sadek in three. Sadek forced a third with his 7-3 tiebreak win in the second, but USA's top singles player got the win, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4.
The lead moved to 5-1 on court six, as USA's Theo Mottier pulled away in the third set to down Mario Pena, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1.
Agusti closed things out with a solid comeback against Accossatto. After struggling in the opening set, he rallied back to force the third and won the final three games after trailing 5-4 in the final frame. He took the match by scores of 3-6, 7-5, 7-5.

UP NEXT
JMU returns to action on Friday, March 22 when it travels to Statesboro, Ga., to face Georgia Southern. The match is set for a 1 p.m. start.