MIAMI SHORES, Fla.—The second-ranked Barry Buccaneers held off the fourth-ranked Valdosta State Blazers 5-4 in men’s tennis action at the Buccaneer Tennis Center on Monday. Sergio Velez pulled out a three-set win at number six singles to clinch the victory.
“We had some chances that we did not capitalize on,” Barry head coach George Samuel said. “We have to capitalize on match points when we get them. I’m happy to pull this through, but we have a lot of work to do.”
The Bucs (2-0) started out well in doubles. The number three team of Emanuel Fraitzl and Velez continued their dominant play with an 8-3 win over Otto Lenhart and Konstantin Kutschenko. Andrew Sharnov and Ales Svigelj got their first win of the season with a 9-7 decision over Daniel Dueren and Christian Hansen at number two.
At the top flight, the Bucs’ Max Wimmer and Marco Mokrzycki were pushed to a tie-breaker by VSU’s Phillip Pakebusch and Michael Kuech. The Bucs had two match points at 8-7 to break Pakebusch, but could not capitalize and the Blazers won the tie-breaker 7-1 to leave the Bucs up 2-1 after doubles.
In singles, the Blazers came out smoking and captured the top three flights. Pakebusch, ranked number one in the nation, defeated #11 Mokrzycki 6-3, 7-5 at number one, while number-four ranked Dueren worked a three-set win over #15 Svigelj 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. At number three, #34 Wimmer fell to #18 Hansen 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to give the Blazers a 4-2 lead and leave them just one point away from a victory.
Fraitzl, ranked #33, righted the ship for the Bucs with a punishing 6-3, 6-2 win over Kuech at number four and Sharnov knotted the match at 4-4 by beating Lenhart 6-1, 6-1 at number five.
With all other matches over and everyone clustered around his court, Velez came back from a 6-2 loss in set one to beat Kutschenko 6-1, 6-4 in the final two sets for the victory.
The Bucs will start Sunshine State Conference play on Thursday, Feb. 18 as they host the Florida Southern Moccasins at 3:00 pm at the Buccaneer Tennis Center.
Tennis Match Results
Valdosta State vs Barry
02/15/10 at Miami Shores, Fla.
(Buccaneer Tennis Center)
#2 Barry 5, #4 Valdosta State 4
Singles competition
1. #1 Phillip Pakebusch (VSUM) def. #11 Marco Mokrzycki (BUM) 6-3, 7-5
2. #4 Daniel Dueren (VSUM) def. #15 Ales Svigelj (BUM) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
3. #18 Christian Hansen (VSUM) def. #34 Max Wimmer (BUM) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
4. #34 Emanuel Fraitzl (BUM) def. Michael Kuech (VSUM) 6-3, 6-2
5. Andrew Sharnov (BUM) def. Otto Lenhart (VSUM) 6-1, 6-1
6. Sergio Velez (BUM) def. Konstantin Kutschenko (VSUM) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Phillip Pakebusch/Michael Kuech (VSUM) def. Max Wimmer/Marco Mokrzycki (BUM) 9-8 (7-1)
2. Andrew Sharnov/Ales Svigelj (BUM) def. Daniel Dueren/Christian Hansen (VSUM) 9-7
3. Emanuel Fraitzl/Sergio Velez (BUM) def. Otto Lenhart/Konstantin Kutschenko (VSUM) 8-3
Match Notes:
Valdosta State 3-1; National ranking #4
Barry 2-0; National ranking #2