Men's Tennis Tames Tigers en Route to NCAA Nationals

MIAMI SHORES, Fla.— After losing to the Ouachita Tigers on March 24, 5-4, the Barry men’s tennis team more than avenged the loss with a 5-0 throttling of the Tigers on Saturday in the NCAA South Region #2 Championship.

The Buccaneer focus was shown at the very beginning of the match with a solid sweep of doubles. The most sets the Tigers won in doubles were a mere four at second doubles flight.

The number two doubles team of Marco Mokrzycki and Emanuel Fraitzl drew first blood from the Tigers with an 8-4 win over the #28 team of Tobias Kuhlmann and Till Heilshorn. The win is only the second of the season for the pair.

The next match completed on the day, was number one doubles. Ales Svigelj and Max Wimmer collected an 8-3 win over OBU’s Jean Charles Diame and Pierre Tafelski to give the Bucs an early 2-0 lead in the match.

The last doubles match concluded was the bottom pair of Andrew Sharnov and Sergio Velez. The two veterans also registered an 8-3 win over Ouachita’s team of Jan Plewinski and Daniel Moser. Sharnov now has a team-leading 17 doubles wins for the year.

With the doubles sweep, Barry took a solid 3-0 lead in the overall match and needed only two singles wins to advance to the NCAA Nationals.

At number five singles, Sharnov took set one 6-4 from Ouachita’s Heilshorn then blasted through set two with a 6-3 win to give the Buccaneers a 4-0 lead.

The deciding match was at number three singles. Fraitzl, coming off of injury, showed no ill effects winning the first set 6-4. Fraitzl then fell behind 3-0 in the second set but rattled off six straight points for game, set, match.

However, the overall match was closer than the score indicated. The Tigers needed to win five of six singles matches, and fired off first-set wins at number two singles, number four singles, and number six singles before the Buccaneers could win a set. Sharnov quickly put a stop to the trend with his first-set win at number five.

The team advances to the NCAA Nationals for the 15th time in its storied history.

Barry wastes no time as the Nationals begin Wednesday, May 12 in Altamonte Spring, Fla. The Buccaneers’ first round match is set for Wednesday against the #17 Drury Panthers, the winner of Midwest Region #2.

Tennis Match Results
Ouachita Baptist vs Barry
05/08/10 at Miami Shores, Fla.
(Buccaneer Tennis Center)

#4 Barry 5, #3 Ouachita Baptist 0

Singles competition
1. #16 Marco Mokrzycki (BUM) vs. #26 Jan Plewinski (OBU) 7-5, 4-1, unfinished
2. #36 Ales Svigelj (BUM) vs. #14 Jean Charles Diame (OBU) 2-6, 6-4, 0-1, unfinished
3. #32 Emanuel Fraitzl (BUM) def. Till Heilshorn (OBU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Max Wimmer (BUM) vs. Pierre Tafelski (OBU) 2-6, 5-4, unfinished
5. Andrew Sharnov (BUM) def. Tobias Kuhlmann (OBU) 6-4, 7-5
6. Sergio Velez (BUM) vs. Daniel Moser (OBU) 3-6, 5-6, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. Ales Svigelj/Max Wimmer (BUM) def. Jean Charles Diame/Pierre Tafelski (OBU) 8-3
2. Marco Mokrzycki/Emanuel Fraitzl (BUM) def. #28 Tobias Kuhlmann/Till Heilshorn (OBU) 8-4
3. Andrew Sharnov/Sergio Velez (BUM) def. Jan Plewinski/Daniel Moser (OBU) 8-3

Match Notes:
Ouachita Baptist 18-3; National ranking #3
Barry 21-4; National ranking #4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (,5,3)
Barry advances to the finals in Altamonte Springs, Fla., May 12-15