MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- On a day where skies turned dark in the middle of the afternoon and Barry coach George Samuel was walking around with hints of uncertainty during doubles, his No. 4 men's tennis team delivered, turning the lights out on No. 9 Augusta State, 8-1, Tuesday at Buccaneer Tennis Center.
Barry (7-0) responded from a lackluster doubles performance in which the Bucs dropped one match and were formidably challenged in another to win all six singles matches in straight sets.
Kevin Sielmann and Eduardo Alfonzo cruised to an 8-1 No. 3 doubles win over Kenneth Guy Mooney and Maxime Coulomb, 8-1, to give the Buccaneers their first point. But Max Wimmer and Leo Vivas had to fight through a stern test from 11th-ranked Victor Cabellos and Victor Guimaraes before finally securing an 8-6 win at the No. 1 flight.
Augusta State's Jan Labas and Romain Brunie defeated Romain Costamagna and Ollie Lemaitre, 8-3, at No. 2 pairs.
Seventh-ranked Marco Mokrzycki delivered the Buccaneers first singles win, bouncing back from his first defeat of the season on Sunday to a ranked opponent, beating Cabellos, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 1.
Alfonzo, an impressive freshman walk-on, remained unbeaten following his 6-1, 6-0 victory over Gustav Anderson at No. 6 singles. Costamagna was equally in control in a 6-0, 6-1 win over Guimaraes at No. 3 to give Barry its match-clinching fifth point.
"I played really good. I'm motivated," Costamagna said. "I want to play well, with confidence, and be ready for the rest of the season."
Sielmann used his power game, blending some crafty forehand shots all over the court to beat Gustavo D'Ascenzi, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 5. Vivas beat Brunie, 6-3, 6-4, in an up-and-down battle at No. 4. He led 3-1 in the second set before Brunie rallied to win the next three games to take a 4-3 second-set lead. But Vivas ripped off the last three games to clinch the match.
Renato Lombardi fought through some adversity in the most competitive singles match, pulling out a 7-5, 7-5 win over Labas at No. 2.
The Buccaneers leave Thursday for Valdosta, Ga., for three matches, beginning with Friday's tilt against No. 2 West Florida. The Argonauts beat Barry, 5-4, last year on the Bucs' home courts.
"We want (some) revenge," Costamagna said. "We have a good team this year. It's our first big match, so we want to show them that we are really ready, and to be all together and play to win."
