MOBILE, Ala. – The Nicholls State University men's tennis team opened up their 2011 season against South Alabama and was defeated, 6-1, at the Mobile Tennis Center on Monday afternoon.

Sophomore Palash Tiwari picked up the lone win for the Colonels (0-1) with a convincing 6-0, 6-2 victory over Parker Allen in No. 5 singles. Nicholls got strong efforts from their top two returners, sophomores Roy Knight and Dmitry Kozionov, as they each battled to three sets before being retired.

South Alabama (1-0) swept doubles play, winning 8-4, 8-3, and 8-4.

Nicholls will be back in action on Thursday, Feb. 3 when they host Alcorn State at the Colonels Tennis Complex. First serve is set for 1:30 p.m.

The complete results are listed below.

Nicholls vs South Alabama
Jan 31, 2011 at Mobile, Ala.
(Mobile Tennis Center)
South Alabama 6, Nicholls 1

Singles competition
1. Lucas Viel (USA) def. Damjan Despotovski (NICH) 6-0, 6-1
2. Alexandre Bernard (USA) def. Dmitry Kozionov (NICH) 1-6, 7-5, 10-8
3. Dauw Kruger (USA) def. Roy Knight (NICH) 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 10-2
4. Hanno Bartsch (USA) def. Shayann Vaezzadeh (NICH) 6-2, 6-1
5. Palash Tiwari (NICH) def. Parker Allen (USA) 6-0, 6-2
6. Jairo Seur (USA) def. Razvan Cojocaru (NICH) 6-4, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Bocaert, Romain/Kuehne, Christian (USA) def. Despotovski/ Kozionov (NICH) 8-4
2. Viel/Bernard (USA) def. Knight/Tiwari (NICH) 8-3
3. Bartsch/Kruger (USA) def. Matshidiso Malope/Vaezzadeh (NICH) 8-4

Match Notes:
Nicholls 0-1
South Alabama 1-0
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (5,1,4,6,2,3)

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