MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Chants kept going out.
"Come on Costa ..."
Costa came through.
Romain Costamagna battled back to beat 20th-ranked Jaime Sanchez, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, at No. 3 singles as NCAA Division II second-ranked Barry University men's tennis team overcame NAIA No. 3 Oklahoma Christian Sunday. The Buccaneers' 5-4 win at Buccaneer Tennis Center was their first since handling NCAA Division I Georgetown before Spring Break.
"Costa had a huge comeback match," Bucs assistant coach Thomas Hipp said.
The Buccaneers (12-1) hadn't played in 13 days. But Barry shook the rust off, despite dropping two doubles matches. Oklahoma Christian's No. 11-ranked tandem of Pier Pieracciani and Nicolas Auruccio escaped with a 9-8 win over Marco Mokrzycki and Leo Vivas at the No. 2 pairs spot. No. 5 Bruno Tiberti and Martin Poboril beat Barry's Fabian Groetsch and Francisco Sigaud, 8-4, at the No. 1 pairs flight. Barry picked up a point at the No. 3 spot when Ollie Lemaitre and Daniel Schmidt beat Paulo Roessle and Renardy Guelfi, 8-2.
The Eagles (6-2) had six singles players ranked among NAIA's Top 50.
Mokrzycki, the No. 8 Division II player, beat Tiberti, No. 2 in NAIA, 7-6, (7-4), 6-2 at No. 1 singles. No. 8 Poboril beat Groetsch, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 2. No. 50 Pier Pieracciani beat Vivas, 7-5, 6-4, at No. 4.
Barry picked up a pair of vital victories at the lower flights when Schmidt beat No. 27 Guelfi, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 5. Lemaitre beat No. 37 Auruccio, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 6.
"It was a good comeback, being down 4-2," Hipp said.
Barry hosts West Florida Monday at Buccaneer Tennis Center.