WEST PALM BEACH â€" With three Moccasins winning in three sets, and a pair of close doubles matches also going their way, 25th-ranked Florida Southern downed Palm Beach Atlantic 7-2 on Saturday for a split of its two matches in south Florida.
The Moccasins (2-3) were originally scheduled to play three times on their trip south but had a match against Lynn halted by rain on Friday. They won on Saturday by taking two-of-three in doubles and also took the first two singles matches that were completed by seniors Vladimir Barabash (Puhovka, Ukraine) and Nathan Leavitt (Bradenton, Fla.). Leavitt won his by a 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) count, while Barabash won 6-3, 6-1.
The other four singles matches went the distance, but Florida Southern came out on top in three of them. Junior Auston Comings (Heathrow, Fla.) was in the most precarious position after splitting the first two sets by identical 6-2 scores. He won the third set in a tie-breaker, 7-6 (7-4). Junior Carl Lundberg (Stocksund, Sweden) and senior Benoit Paradis (Quebec City, QB) both won the first set, lost the second, and won the third to give Florida Southern its final total of seven points.
Even the one singles match Florida Southern lost was almost a win for the Moccasins. Junior Emanuel Lueber (Tiengen, Germany) had split the first two sets at the top flight, but fell in a third-set super tiebreaker to Nicolas Uryson, 11-9.
Florida Southern begins a 10-match home-stand on Monday when it hosts Chestnut Hill College at 9 a.m.
