The Valparaiso University men’s tennis team faced off with South Alabama and fell 4-2 on Sunday. The Jaguars, who check in at No. 47 in the latest ITA national rankings, boosted their record to 20-5 while handing the Crusaders (17-3) their second straight defeat.

How It Happened

• After dropping the doubles point on Saturday against Middle Tennessee, the Crusaders returned to their usual doubles form by winning the doubles point against South Alabama. Jeffrey Schorsch (Perrysburg, Ohio / Perrysburg) and Dave Bacalla (Skokie, Ill. / Niles North) were the first to finish, downing Juan Cruz Soria and Loic Cloes 6-2 at No. 1.
• South Alabama’s Olivier Gingras and Pierre Noyon picked up a 6-4 victory over Kyle Dunn (Fond du Lac, Wis. / Fond du Lac) and Brandon Ancona (Belvidere, Ill. / Rockford Christian) at No. 3, leaving the doubles point hinging on No. 2.
• Chad Kissell (Latrobe, Pa. / Great Latrobe) and Charlie Emhardt (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) came through at No. 2 doubles, beating Tuki Jacobs and Lucas Gonzalez 7-5 to clinch the doubles point for the Crusaders.
• Gonzalez evened the team score with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Garrett Gardner (Poland, Ohio / Poland) at No. 5 singles.
• The next singles match to finish was at No. 6, where Dunn made quick work of Noyon 6-0, 7-5.
• Ancona suffered a 6-3, 6-3 setback at No. 4 singles against Cloes. That allowed the Jaguars to draw back to even at 2-2.
• Jacobs put South Alabama on the brink of a win with his 6-4, 7-6(5) win over Kissell at No. 2 singles.
• The Jaguars clinched the victory with a three-set win at No. 1 singles. Soria outdueled Schorsch 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.
• The two teams played clinch-clinch, so the No. 3 singles match went unfinished. Bacalla dropped the first set to Gringas on a tiebreak 6-7 (5-7). He bounced back with a 6-2 win in Set 2 and held a 4-1 edge in the third set at the time the match went final.

Inside the Match

• Schorsch’s loss at No. 1 singles snapped a 15-match winning streak. Before Sunday, he hadn’t dropped a set all spring.
• Schorsch picked up his 107^th career doubles win as he and Bacalla moved to 6-1 as a combo. It was Bacalla’s 73^rd career doubles win, third in program history.
• Emhardt earned his 110^th career doubles win. He and Kissell are now 7-0 when paired together.
• Dunn notched his 21^st singles win of the season, moving into a tie with Schorsch for the team lead.
• The Crusaders have dropped back-to-back matches for the first time since Feb. 12-13, 2016, losses to Louisville and Purdue.
• Emhardt was scratched from the singles lineup after suffering a leg injury during doubles.

Next Up

The Crusaders will return to Horizon League play on Saturday as they visit Northern Kentucky. The match is slated to get underway at 1:30 p.m. CT.