MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Some of them knew how it felt at the end of last season. Well, as they say in Miami, sometimes the Bucs get a good feeling.
Saturday was one of those days as Barry's No. 2-ranked men's tennis team blanked No. 1 Valdosta State, 9-0, at Buccaneer Tennis Center. The Buccaneers (7-1) lost to VSU (2-1) in the national championship match last season. This day was different.
"That was good tennis," Barry assistant coach Thomas Hipp said.
Barry's Marco Mokrzycki and Leo Vivas won an intensity-filled No. 2 doubles match, 9-7, over Konstantin Kutschenko and Sabastian Jasyk. Late in the match, Mokrzycki chased down a ball along the baseline, slapping at it to send a winner down the line on a critical point. A couple serves later, the Buccaneers closed out the match.
Ranked No. 8 nationally, Mokrzycki beat No. 21 Christian Hansen, 6-3, 4-0 when the Blazers' top singles player retired with an injury in the second set.
Barry's Fabian Groetsch beat Kutschenko, the No. 50-ranked player, in another high-level match, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Kevin Sielmann overcame a first-set loss to beat Niklas Herbring, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, at the No. 3 spot.
Romain Costamagna beat Nicola Kusy, 6-0, 6-4, at No. 4. Vivas beat Jasyk, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 5. Ollie Lemaitre beat Tammo Haake, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 6.
Francisco Sigaud and Groetsch beat Hansen and Haake, 8-4, at No. 1 doubles. Lemaitre and Costamagna beat Herbring and Kusy, 8-3, at No. 3.