ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla.—The Barry University men’s tennis team showed their spirit and determination when it counted on Friday morning, beating the #12 ranked Concordia Clippers 5-3 to advance to the NCAA Division II National Championship.
The Bucs failed to capitalize in the doubles flights, going down 1-2 early. In doubles number one Alex Grubin and Andrey Boldarev beat Amanuel Fraitzl and Max Wimmer 8-4.
The first Buccaneer point came in doubles number two where Ales Svigelj and Andrew Sharnov beat Viktor Kim and Karim Belhadj. The Bucs split the first four games with the Clippers, but took six straight to win 8-2.
In doubles number three Henning Ruenz and Richi Malobicky beat Jakub Fejfar and Sergio Velez 8-6 to give the Clippers a 2-1 lead heading into singles.
Things were not looking good for the Bucs in singles action as Svigelj, Fraitzl, and Wimmer dropped the first set to their Clipper opponents. In singles number two Friatzl would go on to fall to Boldarev 6-3, 6-3, giving the Clippers a 3-1 lead.
Fejfar gave the Bucs their second point, beating Ruenz 6-4, 6-1 in the sixth spot.
Minutes later the Bucs inched closer to victory as Werschel and Sharnov won their matches to bring the score to 3-3.
In singles number four, Werschel manhandled Kim, beating him 6-1, 6-2.
Sharnov beat Malobicky 7-5 in the first set of singles number three. In the second set, Sharnov took the first three games before giving Malobicky a game. Sharnov went on to take the next three, beating his opponent 7-5, 6-1.
It would all come down to the singles number four flight flight between Wimmer and Belhadj. After dropping the first set, Wimmer stormed back to take the second set 6-2.
In set three Wimmer and Belhadj split the first two games. Wimmer took two of the next three to take a 3-2 lead. Wimmer took the final three games to take the set and match 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Wimmer’s win gave the Bucs the fifth and decisive point, propelling them into the Division II National Championship tomorrow.
“Max builds momentum slowly,” said head coach George Samuel. “His opponent was on fire, but Max became confident, and was hard to stop.”
In the other semifinal match, Armstrong Atlantic beat Hawaii-Pacific 5-1. The Bucs and Pirates will face off in the national championship for the second year in a row. In last’s season championship match, the Bucs fell 5-0 to the Pirates.
“They’re a good team,” said Samuel. “But if there’s a team I want to compete against for the championship, it’s Armstrong.”
Live video coverage is available at: http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=ncaa&media=127965.
Tennis Match Results
Concordia University vs Barry
05/15/09 at Altamonte Springs, Fla.
(Sanlando Park)
#2 Barry 5, #12 Concordia University 3
Singles competition
1. #5 Ales Svigelj (BUM) vs. #1 Alex Grubin (CU) 1-6, 5-5, unfinished
2. Andrey Boldarev (CU) def. #18 Emanuel Fraitzl (BUM) 6-3, 6-3
3. #46 Andrew Sharnov (BUM) def. Richi Malobicky (CU) 7-5, 6-1
4. Max Wimmer (BUM) def. Karim Belhadj (CU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. Roman Werschel (BUM) def. Viktor Kim (CU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Jakub Fejfar (BUM) def. Henning Ruenz (CU) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Alex Grubin/Andrey Boldarev (CU) def. Emanuel Fraitzl/Max Wimmer (BUM) 8-4
2. Ales Svigelj/Andrew Sharnov (BUM) def. Viktor Kim/Karim Belhadj (CU) 8-2
3. Henning Ruenz/Richi Malobicky (CU) def. Sergio Velez/Jakub Fejfar (BUM) 8-6
Match Notes:
Concordia University 21-3; National ranking #12
Barry 26-2; National ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (,2,6,5,3,4)
Barry advances to Division II National Championship