BRADENTON, Fla. (April 21, 2017) - The Tars
could not overcome a powerful, top-seeded Barry team, falling in
the Sunshine State Conference Tournament Semifinals to the No. 2
Buccaneers by a score of 6-0. With the loss Rollins will enter the
third place matchup with an overall record of 11-10. Barry
improves to 20-1 on the year, and progress to the Conference
Championship game.
The Buccaneers were firing on all cylinders out of the gate,
sweeping the doubles contests to take a 3-0 lead. Cody
Gubin and Daniel
Ferl battled the No. 25 pair in the country, Carlos Gomez and
Vivien Versier, but ultimately fell 8-6 in the second position.
The Tars dropped the first three singles matches, putting the
match out of reach. Ziad
Melhaoui was forced to retire in the fourth position, and Barry
captured simultaneous decisions in the second and sixth spots.
Senior captain Patrick
Sell recovered from a first set loss to best No. 2 Ahmed Triki
in the second set, while freshman Sami
Kirberg was locked in a close battle with the nations eleventh
ranked singles player, Gomez, in the third position; but, Barry
secured the victory before either match could be decided.
The Tars will have to turnaround and prepare for another highly
ranked opponent in the SSC Tournament Third Place Game. Rollins
will take on the loser of the matchup between second-seeded Saint
Leo and third seeded Lynn. The Lions are 12-3 on the year and
ranked third in the country, while the Fighting Knights are 18-4
and sit at No. 8. Fans can follow all of the action at SunshineStateConference.com.
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Rollins
tennis teams, fans can visit RollinsSports.com. Fans can also stay
up-to-date on the latest #TARnation news by following Rollins
Sports on Facebook, Twitter,
and Instagram.
