Men's Tennis Cruises to 5-2 Win Over Nicholls in Hattiesburg

Thursday, March 24

Southern Miss Tennis Complex

2 P.M.

Southern Miss

Nicholls

Men's Tennis Cruises to 5-2 Win Over Nicholls in Hattiesburg

3/24/2022 7:28:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss men's tennis team opened its four-game homestand with a convincing 5-2 win over Nicholls on Thursday afternoon at the Southern Miss Tennis Complex. The Golden Eagles (5-7, 0-2 C-USA) picked up singles wins at the top three spots en route to defeating the Colonels (7-7, 0-1 Southland).

"Give credit to Nicholls, they battled all the way to the end and took it to the wire in doubles," said head coach Zubin Engineer. "Dhruv [Sunish] and Pasawee [Reansuwong] never quit and came back to win the doubles point for us. That provided a big swing in the momentum before going to singles."

Nicholls took control from the start when Omar Morsy and Antonio Sasso quickly beat Alexander Gima and Antoine Audrain at the third doubles spot. Alan Sanson and Shamirul Shahril evened the doubles contest at one-all when they picked up a 6-4 win on the second doubles position.

Pasawee Reansuwong and Dhruv Sunish got behind early in their match at the top doubles spot but managed to climb all the way back and staved off eight match points to send to the deciding match to a tiebreaker. The youngster and the veteran dominated the deciding game and clinched the doubles point for Southern Miss. The win ended a two-match losing streak for the duo and gave them their second win together.

With the doubles point in hand, Olimjon Nabiev dominated Piyush Surendra Salekar via a 6-2, 6-0 score to give the Golden Eagles a two-point lead. The Colonels quicky added a point of their own when Pavle Drobjakovic dropped Gima in straight sets on court four. In a matter of minutes, Sunish regained the two-point lead for Southern Miss with a 6-3, 6-3 sweep on court before Antoine Martin Thiriat grabbed a point with a win over Audrain in straight sets.

Christopher Cahour delivered in a big way for Southern Miss when he held off Antonio Sasso in the second set. The junior easily won the first set, 6-2, and Sasso didn't go quietly before ultimately falling 6-4. Cahour's win clinched the match for Southern Miss and gave him is second consecutive win. Shahril would follow with a sweep on court one to help the Golden Eagles to a three-point win.

Shahril has now won three in a row and a team-leading six singles matches this season. Nabiev picked up his fifth win, while Sunish and Cahour recorded their fourth. The Golden Eagles have now won their last eight meetings against the Colonels dating back to 2012.

Southern Miss will continue its home stretch on Saturday when Jackson State comes to town. First serve from Hattiesburg is scheduled for 2 p.m. and admission to the match is free.

Singles Results
1. Shamirul Shahril (USM) def. Omar Morsy (NICM) 7-6 (3-0), 6-3
2. Dhruv Sunish (USM) def. Ricardo Machado (NICM) 6-3, 6-3
3. Olimjon Nabiev (USM) def. P. Surendra Salekar (NICM) 6-2, 6-0
4. A. Martin-Thiriat (NICM) def. Antoine Audrain (USM) 6-3, 6-4
5. Pavle Drobnjakovic (NICM) def. Alexander Gima (USM) 6-1, 6-4
6. Christopher Cahour (USM) def. Antonio Sasso (NICM) 6-2, 6-4

Doubles Results
1. Pasawee Reansuwong/Dhruv Sunish (USM) def. Nicola Wehrle/P. Surendra Salekar (NICM) 7-6 (1-0)
2. Alan Sanson/Shamirul Shahril (USM) def. P. Pravin Bagade/Griffin Babineaux (NICM) 6-4
3. Omar Morsy/Antonio Sasso (NICM) def. Alexander Gima/Antoine Audrain (USM) 6-1