TAMPA, Fla. (April 20,
2006) ' The fourth seeded Rollins men's tennis team suffered a 5-4
loss to fifth seeded Florida Southern in the quarterfinals of the
Sunshine State Conference Tournament on Thursday. The Tars fall to
9-12 on the year and will play in the fifth place match on
Saturday, April 22 at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa.
Rollins gained the
early lead, taking victories in the bottom two singles matches.
David Tafur and Jonathan Gomez downed Milos Koprivica and Isaac
Galindo 8-4 with Adrian Tan and Michael Schwartz taking Justin
LaFlamme and Dustin Dixon in the No. 2 match, also by 8-4. Brian
Compton and Carlos Custodio dropped their second straight match for
the first time this year, falling 8-4 in No. 1 doubles to Michael
Knoedler and Alex Thesleff.
In singles competition,
Rollins was again strong at the bottom of the line-up, but couldn't
get the decisive fifth victory. Compton was a quick 6-0, 6-2 winner
over Thesleff in the No. 5 match while Albin Hubscher took care of
LaFlamme 6-3, 7-5 in the No. 6 slot. Gomez was defeated at the No.
4 position by Galindo 6-2, 6-2.
The Tars battled to
three sets in each of the top three matches, losing the first set,
winning the second and dropping the third. David Tafur fell to Adam
Flintoff 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the No. 3 position and Adrian Tan was
turned back by Knoedler 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the No. 2 position. The
No. 1 match featured a pair of the nation's best singles players as
No. 16 Milos Koprivica scored a 7-6(4), 5-7(4), 6-3 win over No. 11
Carlos Custodio.
The Tars will await
their next opponent in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament
fifth place match on Saturday, April 22.
