Championship Central
 
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – Third-seeded South Alabama climbed back to the top of the Sun Belt men’s tennis mountain Sunday afternoon with a 4-1 upset of top-seeded Georgia State in the championship final at the 2018 Sun Belt Tennis Championships.
 
South Alabama rebounded from losing the doubles point to get singles wins at Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 6. Junior Sasha Modica took his match 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3 followed by sophomore Clement Marzol earning a 6-4, 6-4 straight-set victory at No. 1 to put the Jaguars up 2-1. The final two wins came in tiebreaks as freshman Maxime Lapraille got the win, 6-1, 7-6(5), at No. 6 and sophomore Loic Cloes clinched the match 6-1, 7-5 at No. 2.
 
The victory gave South Alabama its 19th Sun Belt men’s tennis title and first since 2008.
 
Earning the conference’s automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships, the Jaguars now await their destination and opponent. The NCAA Tournament field will be unveiled Tuesday, May 1 at 4:30 PM CT/5:30 PM ET on NCAA.com.
 
2018 SUN BELT TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Men’s Championship
 
Match 7 - South Alabama 4, Georgia State 1
Doubles
1. #39 Cloes, Loic/Marzol, Clement (USA) def. Acuna, Sebastian/Duarte, Andrei (GSU) 6-1
2. Hussey, Giles/MacFarlane, Jack (GSU) def. Modica, Sacha/Gingras, Olivier (USA) 6-4
3. Andrukhou, Andrei/Showers, Bailey (GSU) def. Di Loreto, Santiago/Lapraille, Maxime (USA) 7-6 (6-4)
Singles
1. Marzol, Clement (USA) def. Andrukhou, Andrei (GSU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Cloes, Loic (USA) def. Acuna, Sebastian (GSU) 6-1, 7-5
3. Modica, Sacha (USA) def. Hussey, Giles (GSU) 6-1, 6-3
4. Coulaud, Quentin (GSU) vs. Gonzalez, Lucas (USA) 2-6, 6-2, 0-1, unfinished
5. Huynh, Kevin (GSU) vs. Gingras, Olivier (USA) 4-6, 6-3, 0-1, unfinished
6. Lapraille, Maxime (USA) def. Showers, Bailey (GSU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,1,6,2)