BEAUMONT, Texas – The Nicholls men's tennis team's season came to a close Saturday as the Colonels fell 4-2 to the University of New Orleans in the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament.

Nicholls finished the season with an 8-11 overall record. UNO (11-10) advances to the championship match against top-seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The Colonels fell behind early, dropping both completed matches in doubles. Damian Despotovski/Nico Mertens lost in the No. 1 match against Ricardo Campos/Hossam Meligy 8-4, while Dmitry Kozionov/Jeoffrey Noblecourt were ousted in the No. 2 pairing against Abdelrahman Zaki/Vinay Kamineni 8-6.

In singles, Kozionov evened up the score at 1-1 with a dominating 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 2 against Ricardo Campos. But UNO took back the lead as Noblecourt lost 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 6 match versus Lovro Curcija.

Over the next two matches, the Colonels and Privateers split as UNO held a 3-2 edge. After Karatzas fell in straight sets to Zaki, Despotovski battled Rui Silva in the No. 1 match and came away with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Needing only one point for the victory, UNO clinched the match when Meligy outlasted Roy Knight in the No. 5 match. Knight bounced back from a 6-3 loss in the first set to win the next 7-6, but Meligy took the match with a 6-4 win in the final set.

Mertens, who was named conference freshman of the year, won the first set in the No. 3 match 6-4 before UNO clinched the team victory.

New Orleans 4, Nicholls 2
Singles competition
1. Damian Despotovski (NICH) def. Rui Silva (UNO) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
2. Dmitry Kozionov (NICH) def. Ricardo Campos (UNO) 6-0, 6-1
3. Vinay Kamineni (UNO) vs. Nico Mertens (NICH) 4-6, 6-6, unfinished
4. Abdelrahman Zaki (UNO) def. Evan Karatzas (NICH) 6-4, 6-1
5. Hossam Meligy (UNO) def. Roy Knight (NICH) 6-3, 6-7, 6-4
6. Lovro Curcija (UNO) def. Jeoffrey Noblecourt (NICH) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Ricardo Campos/Hossam Meligy (UNO) def. Damian Despotovski/Nico Mertens (NICH) 8-4
2. Abdelrahman Zaki/Vinay Kamineni (UNO) def. Dmitry Kozionov/Jeoffrey Noblecourt (NICH) 8-6
3. Rui Silva/David Malmgren (UNO) vs. Roy Knight/Evan Karatzas (NICH) 7-8, unfinished

Match Notes:
Nicholls 8-11
New Orleans 11-10