WINTER PARK, Fla. (September 11, 2022) - Head coach
Jay Friedman got his players going early in the fall, hosting the first annual Hidden Dual on the Lake this weekend. The event featured Rollins, Ave Maria, and Warner. Over two days, each school played each other in both singles and doubles.
The Tars opened up the action against the Warner Royals with four doubles matches on Saturday morning. On court one,
Mikkel Baumann and transfer
Luke Quaynor gelled early, and won their match 6-1. Court two featured the closest contest between the two schools. In a hard-fought effort,
Efe Comu and newcomer
Richard Stoiberer managed to hang on for a 6-4 win.
Moritz Stenzer and
Guillermo Castaneda, another transfer, looked like they had been playing together for years as they swept their opponents, 6-0. The only defeat for Rollins came on court four where
David Polo and
Phillip McMurray fell by a score of 6-2.
After a quick rest, the Tars were right back it, this time taking on the doubles groups from Ave Maria. Friedman, who is still experimenting with lineups early in the year, switched up a couple of Rollins duos. On court one, Comu and Quaynor teamed up to eek out a tough 7-6 (5) win. Both Baumann and Castaneda (court two) and Polo/McMurray (court four) were able to dispatch their opponents, 6-2. Court three was another solid matchup, but in the end Stenzer and Stoiberer finished the Rollins sweep with a 7-5 win.
Saturday ended with Warner winning four of six singles matches against Ave Maria.
An early start saw the Tars facing the Gyrenes in singles play, leading to some morning drama. Of six total matchups, three required a tiebreaking third set. Ave Maria took the first point on court one as Gustavo Cruz outlasted Comu 6-4, 0-6, 10-6. Quaynor secured a win on court two with a 6-4, 1-6, 10-6 effort against Sebastian Grijalva. The third extended matchup came from court five where Carlos Thireau had a heck of a time with Stenzer before walking away with a 6-7(4), 6-3, 10-6 win. Rollins took the other three matchups: Baumann over Bruno Duarte 7-6 (3), 1-0 ret.; Castaneda over Guilherme Bento 6-2, 6-1; and Stoiberer over Williams 6-2, 6-4.
The Gyrenes took three of four doubles matches over the Royals in the second event of the day.
The weekend wrapped up with Rollins facing Warner in six singles matches. On court one, NAIA All-American Bruno Pessoa defeated Comu 6-3, 7-6. After that, however, it was all Tars. Castaneda took down court two in sweeping fashion, winning 6-0, 6-0. Stenzer had a nice bounce back win on the third court, winning 6-3, 6-2. Stoiberer and McMurray each won their respective matchups in straight sets, and Polo wrapped up the day with a pair of 7-5 set wins on court six.
Coach Friedman was extremely pleased with the performance of his guys. "It was a solid first test to see outside competition this early in the season, and we certainly have tons of good takeaways to get back to work on come Tuesday," he said. "Big shout out to one of our new Tars,
Guillermo Castaneda, for only dropping five games over the whole weekend. We look forward to our next training block before the Varner Memorial Florida Cup (also hosted by Rollins) this year coming with a new look and new excitement!"
The Varner is scheduled for the weekend of October 14-16 in Winter Park. The event will feature a school from each level of collegiate play in Florida: Stetson (D-I), Rollins (D-II), Keiser (NAIA), and Eastern Florida State (JUCO).
