WINTER PARK, Fla. – Barry University’s men’s tennis team finished off its suspended match at Rollins to complete a 5-0 abbreviated victory Sunday.
The No. 2-ranked Buccaneers improved to 16-2 overall, 5-0 in the Sunshine State Conference, using a pair of similar singles victories early Sunday to put an end to the match tabled from Saturday after rain halted play, following a doubles sweep against the No. 20-ranked Tars (8-9, 1-2) at Martin Tennis Complex.
Bucs senior Leo Vivas defeated Henning Ander, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 5 singles, and sophomore Renato Lombardi won by the same score in a No. 6 victory over Michael Schweizer to wrap it up. The match ended after the Buccaneers secured the clinching fifth point to accommodate Barry’s 10 a.m. scheduled match at nearby NCAA Division I Central Florida.
The other four singles matches were left unfinished.
“It was pretty big,” Vivas said. “We wrapped up the match against Rollins, who is in our conference. Everybody came out this morning and just wanted to play real good tennis, and play fast so we could move on to the next match of the day at UCF.”
Vivas’ win was his team-leading 12th of the season. Lombardi improved to 11-0. They are two of four Bucs with double-digit victories this year.
Using a Division I scoring format, where doubles count as one team point, the Buccaneers beat the No. 60th-ranked Knights, 5-2, in the second match of the day in the Orlando area. The match at Central Florida was considered an exhibition.
“Everybody started real good. Our level in the doubles was really high,” said Vivas, who played at UCF as a freshman. “In the singles, Kevin (Sielmann) played great. Nico (Dreer) had a really good match. He played amazing. All the guys played really good, and they stepped it up when they needed to.”
Sielmann defeated Reece Acree, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 6 singles. Dreer beat Jose Sangroniz, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 4. Vivas was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Jesse Flores at No. 5. Costamagna gutted out a 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 10-2 win over Chris Barrus at No. 3 to seal the deal for the Buccaneers.
“It was important because I had the chance to show how I’m playing, and show my team how good it was,” Vivas said, thoughts of his days at UCF before transferring to Barry starting to recirculate. “We got the opportunity to play a Division I school, and a pretty good one, and we stepped it up. It wasn’t so much about my personal goal, but the team’s. I wanted to show the UCF staff that we’re good enough to play against a Division I school.”
Vivas and Costamagna beat Matt Gladstone and Kiku Aulina, 8-6, in a spirited No. 2 doubles match – the most competitive of the day. Ironically, Vivas and Gladstone, a product of Miami Country Day High School and nearby Surfside, Fla., native, were roommates during their freshmen year at UCF.
“It was weird playing him,” Vivas said. “I would’ve rather played someone else, but it had to be what it had to be. (Afterwards), I sat down and started talking to him. It was weird, it was like practice. We talked about what we’re going to do after school. It was pretty cool.”
Barry’s Division II No. 3-ranked doubles team of Ahmed Triki and Ollie Lemaitre beat Amar Hromic and Flores, 8-3, at the top flight. Sielmann and Lombardi cruised to an 8-2 win over Barrus and Inaki Espindala at No. 3 pairs. Aulina beat the Division II No. 8-ranked Triki, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 1 singles. Espindola was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over 11th-ranked Fabian Groetsch at No. 2.
The Bucs will get a day off in preparation for its tilt with No. 8 Lynn next Sunday in a 10 a.m. first serve at Buccaneer Tennis Center. That match will decide the SSC regular season title.
“It’s a very important match,” Vivas said. “Everyone’s excited to play. Now we’re getting to the point where all the work we’ve put in, we can see what’s paid off so far. We have to keep winning if we want to keep playing. Now it gets to the point where every match, it could be our last, so we have to play with everything we have every time.”