Box Score

MARIETTA, Ga. - Senior captain Simon Janik was able to pull out a three-set win in his final match for the Owls today, but it was not enough as the men's tennis team (10-13, 1-8 A-Sun) fell to Jacksonville (4-17, 2-7 A-Sun) today at Fair Oaks Tennis Center in the Owls' final match of the season.

In a scene which has become far too familiar for the Owls, a slow start in doubles doomed them to a 1-0 deficit from which they could not recover.  The duo of Janik and Gianni Kubin lost seven of the first eight games at No. 2 doubles before finally showing spirit and recovering to 5-7 down, but it was too little, too late as the Dolphins closed out the match, 8-5.  The Owls also lost by one break at No. 1 doubles, with the pair of Michael Browder and Louis Theodor being beaten, 8-6.  The all-freshman pair of Alexander Pena and Alex Toliver once again played the mosty inspired doubles match of the day, raising their conference record to 3-1 as a duo, winning 8-6 over Matt Hansen and Fernando Bano-Lopez.

The singles would hinge on the play of the Owls' middle lineup, with junior Gokalp Ozdemir picking up his team-leading fifth conference win, beating Richard Casagrande, 6-1, 7-6(4).  Janik followed with a win over Eduardo Martinez, coming back from a set down for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory in his final collegiate match.  Unfortunately for the Owls, they would only muster one more win, falling just short of the team victory.  Matthew Johnson, playing in place of Kubin due to exhaustion, picked up the win for the Owls at the No. 6 spot, winning 2-6, 6-4, 2-1 (ret.) when his opponent was unable to continue.

"This was one of the more disappointing matches of the season for me," indicated Owls Head Coach #T.J. Greggs#.  "With it being senior day and all, I really thought we would all come out here ready to fight, and that simply wasn't the case.  I think the disappointment with not making the conference tournament weighed on the players' minds, but you have to fight no matter what the circumstance, so I am extremely disappointed that we couldn't pull it together for Simon's sake."

The Owls end their season having won the most regular season games in program history at 10, going 9-5 outside the Atlantic Sun Conference.  Janik is the only graduating player for the Owls, as they return seven players to go along with three incoming players.  The fall season kicks off in September at the UGA Southern Intercollegiates.