BOX SCORE

PENSACOLA, Fla. – The No. 1 ranked UWF men's tennis team won four singles matches as it erased an early deficit to defeat No. 9 Lynn, 5-3, and win the NCAA South Region I title at the Ralph "Skeeter" Carson Tennis Complex Sunday.
 
UWF (28-1) advanced to the round of 16 at the NCAA Championships where it will face No. 7 Armstrong State on May 9 at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
 
But on Sunday, the match got off to a rough start for the Argonauts as they lost two of the three doubles matches for just the second time all season. That put head coach Derrick Racine in a tough position going into singles, knowing his guys would have to win at least four of the six for the team victory.
 
"We just made sure they got refocused when we got ready for singles," Racine said. "I felt good with our matchups but needed to reassure the guys that everything would work out."
 
UWF tied the match at 2-2 when Serdar Bojadjiev defeated Tristan Houle 6-0, 7-6 at No 4 and then took a 3-2 lead on Alfonso Castellano's 7-5, 6-2 win over Jose Porfirio at No. 5.
 
Lynn re-tied it at 3-3 when Florian Clemares defeated Sebastian Sanchez, 6-4, 7-6 at the No. 6 spot.
 
Fourth-ranked Alex Peyrot closed out fifth-ranked Mahdi Laalej, 6-2, 7-6 at No. 1 putting the Argos one point away from the win.
 
Warren Kuhn clinched it for the home team with a 7-6, 6-3 win at No. 3, setting off a dogpile along the court three baseline.
 
"I'm real proud of these guys and they fought like crazy," Racine added. "I knew it would be a tough match but if you are going to win (the NCAA title) you have to come through in these early tough matches."
 
The appearance in the NCAA Championships marks the 16th for UWF and its fifth in the last six years after losing in the regional final last year.