LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College men's tennis team nearly pulled off a historic upset against No. 1 Barry Saturday afternoon, but the Buccaneers remained undefeated in a 4-3 Moccasin loss at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
"To play No. 1 to a 3-4 decision shows where this program is heading," said head coach
Rhett Rollyson on his team's play. "Am I satisfied? No, but we are moving in the right direction. The energy of the crowd was absolutely insane. I appreciate them so much. I am proud of Mario, Inaki, and Matteo for staying the course when things looked bad."
The Mocs (1-2, 0-2 SSC) lost the doubles point but showed immense grit to win three singles courts in a third set tiebreakers. The Buccaneers (3-0, 3-0 SSC) won doubles with a close court #3 win and held on for their second straight 4-3 win against SSC opponent.
After a split first two courts in doubles, court 3 went to a 7-6 (7-5) narrow decision in favor of the Buccaneers despite a valiant effort by
Mario Garoz and
Ryan Rajakar.
Matteo Feggi and
Chris Fok Kow were the #1 court winner for the only doubles win.
Barry won three singles courts for the match win, but not without some dramatics from the FSC lineups. Florida Southern took the remaining three courts to a third set tiebreaker which the Mocs won each flight. Garoz lost his first set but rallied for a set two win and a court-deciding third set in his win. Feggi won his first set and a 12-10 tiebreaker third set and big win on #6. Despite being down early in the third set,
Inaki Braun Simo displayed a remarkable 10-3 win and court 2 victory in the Moccasins' loss to the defending national champions.
The Mocs will travel to St. Petersburg, Fla. to take on Eckerd College next Saturday, Feb. 18, set for an 11 a.m. start at the Fred Bullard Courts.
