HOUSTON, Texas—The Barry Buccaneers survived a doubles scare to beat the #27 Washburn Ichabods 5-1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Men’s Tennis National Tournament at Homer Ford Tennis Center on Wednesday.
Barry’s top doubles tandem, fifth-ranked Patrick Rittenauer and Ales Svigelj got upset 9-7 by 26th ranked Rutger Vliegenberg and Andrew Plum at number one doubles, giving the Ichabods (14-7) a 1-0 lead.
The bottom two flights both went to a tie-breaker, with the Bucs (20-4) pulling them out in the end. Andrew Sharnov and Roman Werschel prevailed 7-4 in the tie-breaker at number three doubles over Ryan Ward and Drew Hanson to even the match. Freshmen Emanuel Fraitzl and Jakub Fejfar came back from 4-3 down a service break to force the tie-breaker and went on to a 9-8 (7) win over Brad Johnston and Nathan Martin at number two.
Up 2-1 heading into the singles, the Bucs won first sets at five of the six flights to quickly regain the momentum. Svigelj, ranked 18th by the ITA, quickly set down Ward 6-2, 6-0 at number two singles and Fejfar followed with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Nate Hurd at number six to make it 4-1 in favor of the Bucs.
Fraitzl won his first set easily 6-2, but fell behind in the second set 3-0. He rallied to win six straight games to take the set 6-3 and clinch the match for Barry.
The Bucs will face the winner of the Francis Marion/Cameron match on Thursday at 1:00 pm Central time at Memorial Park.
Tennis Match Results
Washburn vs Barry
5/14/2008 at Homer Ford Tennis Center (Houston, Texas)
#5 Barry 5, #27 Washburn 1
Singles competition
1. #15 Patrick Rittenauer (BUM) vs. Rutger Vliegenberg (WBUM) 5-6, unfinished
2. #18 Ales Svigelj (BUM) def. Ryan Ward (WBUM) 6-2, 6-0
3. Emanuel Fraitzl (BUM) def. Nathan Martin (WBUM) 6-2, 6-3
4. Andrew Sharnov (BUM) vs. Drew Hanson (WBUM) 6-4, 2-3, unfinished
5. Roman Werschel (BUM) vs. Andrew Plum (WBUM) 6-3, 2-2, unfinished
6. Jakub Fejfar (BUM) def. Nate Hurd (WBUM) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #26 Rutger Vliegenberg/Andrew Plum (WBUM) def. #5 Patrick Rittenauer/Ales Svigelj (BUM) 9-7
2. Emanuel Fraitzl/Jakub Fejfar (BUM) def. Brad Johnston/Nathan Martin (WBUM) 9-8 (9-7)
3. Andrew Sharnov/Roman Werschel (BUM) def. Ryan Ward/Drew Hanson (WBUM) 9-8 (7-4)
Match Notes:
Washburn 14-7; National ranking #27
Barry 20-4; National ranking #5
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (,2,6,3)