Jan. 25, 2013

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss men's tennis team evened its record to 1-1 after a 6-1 victory over Jacksonville State Friday afternoon at the USM Tennis Courts.

"I thought we got off to a good start in doubles," Head Coach Ki Kroll said. "We battled hard in every match. Paulo and Juan played very well at No. 3 doubles today. I was pleased with the overall effort. We also got some strong performances in our singles' play from each of our guys."

The Golden Eagles took the early lead 1-0 after posting wins in two of the three doubles' matches. Paulo Alvarado and Juan Escobar got the Golden Eagles started in doubles after posting an 8-0 win over Felipe Diaz and Felipe Watanabe (JSU) at the No. 3 doubles. No. 60 Matt Frost and Andrew Goodwin followed with a hard-fought, 8-6, win over Axel Sundberg and Nenad Marcec (JSU) in the top spot. Rounding out the doubles', freshmen Benjamin Feldmann and Vasco Valverde fell to Igor Santos and Felipe Wenzel in a tie-breaker, 8-7 (7-5).

Valerde bounced back to put the Eagles up 2-0 with his 6-3, 6-0, win over Wenzel at No. 5 singles. Alvarado downed Diaz in straight sets at No. 4, 6-2, 6-0 while Escobar clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 6 against Watanabe.

Rounding out singles' play, Frost recorded the fifth point for Southern Miss at No. 1 after winning in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2 against Sundberg.

Jacksonville State claimed a point at No. 3 singles when Marcec defeated Feldmann, 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7).

Goodwin posted the Eagles' sixth point with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Santos at the No. 2 spot.

Southern Miss returns to action on Sunday when the Golden Eagles host a double-header with a 10 a.m. match against Nicholls State followed by a 2 p.m. against Jackson State.