WINTER PARK, Fla. (April 15, 2017) - Rollins
was able to win its last Sunshine State Conference matchup,
defeating the Florida Southern Mocs, 6-3. The Tars and the Mocs
will likely face each other again in the upcoming SSC tournament.
The win gives the Tars the higher seed over the Mocs, and propels
their overall record to 10-9, while they move to 4-3 in conference
play. With the loss, the Mocs drop to 10-10 on the year, and 3-4
in the SSC.
The Tars fell behind at the beginning of the match when the Mocs
Fabian Lundberg and Brian Slivonik took the first point of doubles
play. It was then the Tars who responded and took the next two
double points. Francesco
Racanelli and Ziad
Melhaoui defeated Jose de Sario and Derek Bell 8-3. It was then
Patrick
Sell and Sami
Kirberg in the first position, who captured the final doubles
point for the Tars, defeating Laurent Mailloux and Miguel
Alvarez-Hevia, the tenth-ranked doubles pair in the south region,
8-6.
Rollins increased its lead in the singles matches, winning four
out of six individual contests. Sell dropped his first position
match on the afternoon with a 1-6, 6-4, and 6-2 loss to Fabian
Lundberg. Racanelli was victorious in his second position match,
taking down Jose de Sario 2-6, 7-6(7), 10-8. Kirberg also picked
up another match point for the Tars, after he won in straight sets
6-3, 6-3 in the third spot. Melhaoui was defeated by his opponent
Laurent Mailloux, 6-2, 6-3, but the Tars continued to battle. Daniel
Ferl and Cody
Gubin both were victorious in their matches in the fifth and
sixth positions, winning 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) and 7-5, 6-3,
respectively.
Rollins will now travel to Bradenton, Fla. to compete in the SSC
championships. Their first match is scheduled for Thursday, April
20, at 10 a.m. The winner of the match will move on to the
semifinals in the SSC tournament.
