MIAMI SHORES, Fla. (May 8, 2008)
- The fourth-seeded Rollins College Tars defeated
the short-handed fifth seed, Tusculum Pioneers, 5-0 to advance to
the finals of the NCAA Division II Southeast-I Men's Tennis
Regional at the Buccaneer Tennis Center on Thursday.
The Pioneers' Sergio Espinosa did not accompany the team due to
TC's graduation ceremonies this weekend, forcing Tusculum (20-2) to
play with only five players. With Espinosa, who normally plays
number two singles and number one doubles, out of the lineup,
everyone except Nic Bigler was forced to play up a flight.
Starting with a 2-0 lead due to the defaults, Rollins (16-7)
took both doubles to make it 4-0. The Tars top combo of Brian
Compton and Jonathan Gomez (ranked 10th by the ITA) defeated
Henrique Rodrigues and Leo Guaycurus 8-2. At number two, Gustavo
Carvalho and Pablo Seijo rallied from down 4-3 to defeat Bigler and
Hunter Beal 8-5.
Singles proved more challenging for the Tars. The Pioneers won
first sets at number one and number four and split sets at number
five. But Gomez, facing Carlos Garcia at number two, closed out the
match with a 6-2, 6-1 win.
The Tars advance to the final on Friday at 2:00 p.m. against the
top-seed, Barry Buccaneers.
