AUBURN, Ala. (October 5, 2025) – The University of North Alabama men's tennis team wrapped up the Battle of the Plains tournament on Sunday, leaving Auburn, Ala. with 12 total victories against some of the best competition in the region.
The Lions had solid showings against top Division I programs over the weekend, as all six Lions left with a victory in the three-day tournament.
Junior Alex Despoja led North Alabama with five wins, securing three doubles and singles victories. Junior Izan Orgiles took home four wins, while junior Whitman Davis and sophomore Satoru Nakajima landed three. Senior Lachlan Brain and junior Alberto Altur ended the tournament with one victory against top competition.
Brain, Nakajima, Altur and Orgiles all competed in the blue draw of the tournament. The four dropped their opening matchups, but Nakajima and Orgiles later earned singles victories.
Nakajima held off Clemson's Marko Mesarovic for a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 win while Orgiles withstood Troy's Luciano Alcocer, 7-5, 7-6 (3). The two repeated the efforts in the following round, starting with Nakajima's 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 triumph over Auburn's Jake Kennedy. Orgiles beat Auburn's Thomas Kennedy, 6-4, 6-2.
Brain and Nakajima secured their lone consolation victory in a 6-3 doubles win over Troy's Ausias Martin Melo and Hiiro Sakamoto.
Altur and Orgiles won their initial consolation doubles in a 6-4 win over Martin Melo and Sakamoto. The final weekend matchup saw Orgiles tally his third singles win in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Martin Melo.
In the orange draw, Despoja and Davis opened with a hard-fought 7-5 win over The Citadel's Reece Beckendorf and Brady Gober. Despoja's 6-0, 6-2 singles victory over Beckendorf advanced the two Lions to the next round.
The two dropped the following round to Lipscomb, but Despoja won a second-straight singles bout in a 6-0, 6-2 win over Henrique Ushizima.
The orange consolation bracket began like the main draw, taking a 6-3 doubles victory against Georgia Southern's Gregoire Delattre and Evan Rigsby. They earned a second-straight doubles win in a 6-2 triumph over South Alabama's Victor Frumholz and Adam Bouyacoub, 6-2. The pair fell in their ensuing singles bouts to cap the weekend.
The next outing for UNA Men's Tennis comes at the ITA Fall Regional Championships from Oct. 9-14 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
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