(Tampa, Fla.) -- Marcus Echtler protected his #61 national ranking with both singles and doubles wins but Stetson fell to South Florida 5-2 Saturday afternoon. 

Echlter was a straight sets winner in his #1 singles match against Henning Hipp.  The Stetson junior fought through the first set 7-6, then cruised to a 6-2 finale.  He later paired with Filip Kricka to defeat Mahmoud Hamad and Thomas Estrada 9-8 (3) in the #1 doubles competition. 

Freshman Hicham Laalej also recorded a singles win to improve his personal record to 3-0.  He posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Mark Gattiker for the only other Stetson point. 

Joey Jones took Thomas Estrada to the full three sets in the #4 singles match and also teamed with Serguei Boulanov in the #2 doubles competition in a grueling 9-8 loss after four match points. 

The Hatters have a week to recharge before traveling to face 47th-ranked South Alabama Friday in Mobile at 1:00 p.m. 

Results
South Florida 5, Stetson University 2

 Singles competition
1. #61 ECHTLER, Marcus (STET) def. HIPP, Henning (USF) 7-6, 6-2
2. SVIJELJ, Ales (USF) def. KRICKA, Filip (STET) 6-1, 6-1
3. HAMAD, Mahmoud (USF) def. BOULANOV, Serguei (STET) 6-3, 6-3
4. ESTRADA, Thomas (USF) def. JONES, Joey (STET) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
5. LAALEJ, Hicham (STET) def. GATTIKER, Mark (USF) 6-3, 6-2
6. TOLEDO, Deigo (USF) def. DZUBA, Peter (STET) 6-1, 6-0

 Doubles competition
1. ECHTLER, Marcus/KRICKA, Filip (STET) def. HAMAD, Mahmoud/ESTRADA, Thomas (USF) 9-8 (3-0)
2. DAUDT, Daniel/HIPP, Henning (USF) def. JONES, Joey/BOULANOV, Serguei (STET) 9-8 (4-0)
3. GATTIKER, Mark/TOLEDO, Deigo (USF) def. DZUBA, Peter/LAALEJ, Hicham (STET) 8-5

Match Notes:
Stetson University 0-3
South Florida 1-0