LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Barry University men's tennis team finished its three-day Southern California swing with a more comfortable win than the way it started the trip, beating No. 12 UC-San Diego, 8-1, Friday at Northview Courts.
The No. 1 Buccaneers (12-0) will host No. 3 West Florida in an anticipated matchup between two unbeaten teams. The Argonauts take a 9-0 record into the weekend when they will begin a five-match tour through the Sunshine State Conference. Barry is stop No. 3 in their SSC swing.
In the win over the host Tritons Friday, Barry's Ollie Lemaitre and Ahmed Triki defeated Max Jiganti and Kona Luu, 8-2, at No. 1 doubles. Fabian Groetsch and Renato Lombardi, new-formed partners at No. 3, beat Rajeev Herekar and Mark Meyer, 8-5, to give the Bucs a 2-0 lead. But the Tritons No. 2 pair of Alexandre Miaule and Horea Porutiu handed Romain Costamagna and Leo Vivas an 8-6 loss.
The Buccaneers had little trouble in singles, however, albeit Triki's third-set super tiebreaker win over Jiganti, 6-2, 6-7 (0-7), 10-7, at No. 1 in the last individual match to finish.
Costamagna bounced back from Thursday's loss with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Herekar at No. 2 singles. No. 12-ranked Groetsch defeated Ganesh Alagappan, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 3. Vivas, still holding the No. 37 national ranking, was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Miaule at No. 4 to put the Bucs ahead, 4-1. Lombardi won by the same score at No. 5 over Porutiu. Kevin Sielmann had an easy go of it in a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Meyer at No. 6 in the first match to finish.
The Bucs began the road trip in California with a scary 5-4 win over No. 11 Azusa Pacific.