WINTER PARK – Florida Southern got a 3-set win from Blaine Miller at No. 5 singles, but 13th-ranked Rollins was able to get three extremely close doubles points to pull out an 8-1 win over the 34th-ranked Moccasins. It was Florida Southern's third straight match against a top-15 opponent, and its fourth in a row against a team ranked #26 or higher.
Moving up from the No. 6 position for the first time this year, Miller, a freshman from Orlando, picked up his first win by defeating Jacobo Herrero 6-2, 4-6, 10-6. It was the only one of the six singles matches that went to three sets, but all three doubles matches went the distance, including Miller's at No. 3.
The second doubles flight was the first to finish, with Rollins (2-3, 1-1 Sunshine State Conference) taking that one 9-7, in what proved to be the only one of the three decided by as many as two games. Miller and playing partner Derek Bell then had their Rollins counterparts at No. 3 down to match point on four occasions, but Malte Christesen and Henning Ander fought back to take a 9-8 (8-6) decision.
At the top doubles flight, Fabian Lundberg and Arthur Viallaneix came back from a 7-5 deficit, but again the Tars prevailed in a tie-break situation, with 19th-ranked Anton Bettink and Adrian Di Felice winning 9-8 (7-3). It marked the Moccasins' second straight match against a top-15 team in which two doubles points went out to a 9-8 margin.
Florida Southern will be right back on the courts again Thursday afternoon in St. Petersburg where the Moccasins will take on Eckerd at 3 p.m.
