WINTER PARK, Fla. -- Barry men's tennis couldn't catch a break. Even when there was a break.
No. 3-ranked Barry built a 4-2 lead on No. 6 Rollins Saturday before the Tars pulled out a couple three-set matches to tie the match. Then after a rain and lightning delay, Rollins returned to the courts and stoled the last match. That sent the Buccaneers to a 5-4 loss in a season coach George Samuel has been pushing buttons all year to retain that magic that has made his program one of the best in Division II.
On this day, the Bucs didn't have the answer it needed.
"It was a tough loss," Barry assistant coach Thomas Hipp said. "We did not play well at first doubles."
Barry won two of the three doubles matches as Ollie Lemaitre and Romain Costamagna beat Jeff Morris and Ari Davis, 8-5, at the No. 3 spot. Marco Mokrzycki and Leo Vivas beat Constantin Sturdza and Bernardo Barroso, 8-3 at No. 2.
The Bucs (15-3, 4-1 Sunshine State Conference) dropped their first league match of the season when Rollins won the top three singles flights and picked up a win at the No. 6 flight. Three singles matches went three sets.
Vivas continued his steady play, winning the No. 5 flight, 6-3, 6-2 over Jason Alabaster, one of the nation's better doubles players, who accounted for the Tars' lone pairs point with a 9-8 (7-4) victory at the top flight.
"Leo was good in winning singles and doubles," Hipp said.
No. 27 Fabian Groetsch beat Ari Davis in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4.
Rollins' No. 43 Malte Christesen pulled out a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Daniel Schmidt at No. 3. No. 2 Lucas Jovita beat No. 11 Mokrzycki, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 1. Kevin Sielmann fell 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to Sturdza at No. 6
Costamagna split the first two sets with No. 6 Jeff Morris, winning 6-3 and losing 6-3 to force a third set at No. 2 singles. After the two battled to a 5-5 tie in the final set, the match was halted for three hours due to poor weather conditions. When they returned to the court, Morris won the next seven points to pull out a 7-5 third-set match-clinching victory.
"Romain was playing great against the No. 6 player in the country until 5-5 in the third when it started to rain," Hipp said. "When we came back out, he could not win a point."
Barry will conclude this three-day trip with a neutral site match against New Orleans Sunday.