LAKELAND, Fla.—The top-seeded Barry Buccaneers rolled into the Sunshine State Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament finals after a 5-1 win over the fourth-seeded Rollins College Tars at the Beerman Tennis Center on Friday.
The Buccaneers (17-4) snagged a 2-1 lead after doubles and nearly claimed the sweep. At the top flight, Patrick Rittenauer and Ales Svigelj (ranked #2 in the ITA national rankings) held off the Tars’ Brian Compton and Jonathan Gomez (ITA #13) 9-7, while at number three Andrew Sharnov and Roman Werschel made short work of Austin Duvall and Albin Hubscher 8-2.
At the middle flight, Barry’s Jakub Fejfar and Emanuel Fraitzl carried Gustavo Carvalho and Pablo Seijo to a tiebreaker, but the Tars prevailed 9-8 (5).
In singles, the Bucs’ power at the lower flights proved to be the difference as they took wins at the bottom three flights, while the first three never got a chance to finish. Sharnov demolished Carvalho 6-1, 6-1 at number four, while Werschel was nearly as expedient at number five, beating Duvall 6-2, 6-2.
Fejfar closed out the match with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Andrew Johnson at number six.
The Bucs will face the Lynn/Florida Southern winner in the championship match at 2:00 pm on Saturday.
Tennis Match Results
Rollins vs Barry
04/18/2008 at Lakeland, Fla.
(Beerman Tennis Center)
#5 Barry 5, #9 Rollins 1
Singles competition
1. #25 Patrick Rittenauer (BUM) vs. #15 Brian Compton (RCM) 6-4, 2-3, unfinished
2. #20 Ales Svigelj (BUM) vs. #50 Jonathan Gomez (RCM) 4-6, 2-3, unfinished
3. Emanuel Fraitzl (BUM) vs. Pablo Seijo (RCM) 2-6, 4-4, unfinished
4. Andrew Sharnov (BUM) def. Gustavo Carvalho (RCM) 6-1, 6-1
5. Roman Werschel (BUM) def. Austin Duvall (RCM) 6-2, 6-2
6. Jakub Fejfar (BUM) def. Andrew Johnson (RCM) 6-0, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #2 Patrick Rittenauer/Ales Svigelj (BUM) def. #13 Brian Compton/Jonathan Gomez (RCM) 9-7
2. Gustavo Carvalho/Pablo Seijo (RCM) def. Jakub Fejfar/Emanuel Fraitzl (BUM) 9-8 (7-5)
3. Andrew Sharnov/Roman Werschel (BUM) def. Austin Duvall/Albin Hubscher (RCM) 8-2
Match Notes:
Rollins 15-6; National ranking #9
Barry 17-4; National ranking #5
Sunshine State Conference Tennis Championships - Match 12
Barry advances to the Tournament Final