Southern Miss Remains Undefeated at Home with Shutout of UT Chattanooga

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss men's tennis team outlasted UT Chattanooga (1-4, 0-0 SOCON) on Saturday afternoon at the Southern Miss Tennis Complex, as the Golden Eagles (2-1, 0-1 C-USA) cruised to a 4-0 win.

"That was a big win for our program and we battled on all six courts today," said head coach Zubin Engineer. "I'm proud of the way the guys fought, but I thought a pivotal point in the match was when we clinched the doubles point. Alan [Sanson] came back from losing the first set to win in three sets, then Chris went three sets to give us the win.

We'll turn our eyes to Lamar now, but it's nice to get another win in the record book."

Southern Miss fell behind early in doubles play as Alan Sanson and Pasawee Reansuwong dropped their match on court two, 6-3. About 10 minutes later, Antoine Audrain and Christopher Cahour evened things up with a decisive win on court three. With all eyes on Dhruv Sunish and Shamirul Shahril, the pair delivered an exciting finish in front of a raucous crowd on court one. Sunish sent a volley down the Mocs sideline to secure the 7-6 win and the doubles point.

Shahril kept the momentum rolling into his singles match and handily defeated Simon Labbe in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. The win not only marked the first singles win the Golden Eagles on Saturday, but it also marked Shahril's first win as a Golden Eagle. On court five, Sanson fell behind early before storming back to beat Jordan McClure in three sets. Sanson cruised to a 6-1 victory in the third set to give Southern Miss a 3-0 lead. With all four remaining matches coming down to the wire in the third set, Audrain locked up the win for the Black and Gold with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

Olimjon Nabiev, Cahour, and Sunish went unfinished in singles play. Sunish and Cahour trailed in the third set, while Nabiev was getting set to start the final set as the Golden Eagles clinched the win.

The win moves Southern Miss to 2-1, 0-1 C-USA. The Golden Eagles will return to action on Friday, Jan. 18, when they host Lamar at the Southern Miss Tennis Complex.

Hear from the Players
Alan Sanson...
"I lost the first set, 6-4, but it was pretty close. I was calm the whole time and knew all I had to do was stay right in my head. I'm proud of how the guys played today."

Shamirul Shahril...
"This was the first match I won in singles at Southern Miss. I played well in both sets, but I know the guys battled every play today."

Christopher Cahour...
"It was a good match. The doubles point was very important and it gave us some confidence going it to singles. My match was close, but I just kept fighting and ended up winning it."

Singles
1. Dhruv Sunish (USM) vs. Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) 6-4, 5-7, 0-1, unfinished
2. Shamirul Shahril (USM) def. Simon Labbe (UTC) 6-3, 6-4
3. Olimjon Nabiev (USM) vs. Kerim Hyatt (UTC) 6-4, 6-7 (0-3), unfinished
4. Antoine Audrain (USM) def. Peyton Gatti (UTC) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
5. Alan Sanson (USM) def. Jordan McClure (UTC) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
6. Christopher Cahour (USM) vs. Ryan Mudre (UTC) 1-6, 7-6 (12-0), 0-2, unfinished

Doubles
1. Shamirul Shahril/Dhruv Sunish (USM) def. Peyton Gatti/Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) 7-6 (8-0)
2. Simon Labbe/Kerim Hyatt (UTC) def. Alan Sanson/Pasawee Reansuwong (USM) 6-3
3. Antoine Audrain/Christopher Cahour (USM) def. Jordan McClure/Kaisei Kuroki (UTC) 7-6 (2-0)

Southern Miss Remains Undefeated at Home with Shutout of UT Chattanooga

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Antoine Audrain

Christopher Cahour

Olimjon Nabiev

Pasawee Reansuwong

Alan Sanson

Shamirul Shahril

Dhruv Sunish