Fire Extinguish Tars at Home

WINTER PARK, Fla. (April 7, 2023) - Rollins suffered a rare home loss on Friday, falling to the #6 ranked (NAIA) Southeastern Fire, 4-2. The Tars now stand at 14-4 on the year, with their home record moving to 12-2.

The Fire secured the first point of the day by taking two of three doubles matches. Court three, which went to Southeastern, was the only one that did not require a tiebreak. Mikkel Baumann/Guillermo Castaneda took the win on court two with a score of 7-6 (5). Unfortunately, Christian Garay/Diego Menendez defeated Efe Comu/Luke Quaynor by the same score. 

Castaneda put the Tars back on track with a singles win on court four, 6-3, 6-1. It was his twelfth singles victory of the year. Southeastern answered back with a tough 7-5, 7-5 win on court three. Again, Rollins fought to tie the score. This time it was Luke Quaynor taking down Menendez on court two in a tiebreaker, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2,

The tension was high as the stakes continued to rise. The closest match of the day was on court five where Moritz Stenzer and Guido Luna were locked in. Luna took the first set 6-4, but Stenzer battled back to claim set two with a score of 7-6. The third set tiebreak then needed a tiebreak of its own as Luna secured the win, 7-5.

Court one was the next to wrap up, in yet another three set affair. Comu started off strong with a 6-2 win in set one, but then dropped the next two. 4-6 and 2-6 to give Southeastern the win. Charlie Putrino III was leading on court six when the match was called once the Fire had clinched. 

From head coach Jay Friedman:
"I'll tell you what, the Fire are #6 in the country in their respective level for a reason. They really brought some energy to our home courts today. At times I felt like I was in Lakeland, and hats off to them for their efforts. We played tough but in the end today was not our day with it coming right down to the finish again. We will regroup and come back next week rejuvenated ready to get back to D2 play. 

Things won't get any easier for Rollins as they will host the number one team in the country, Saint Leo, at Copeland Stadium on Wednesday, April 12. First serve is scheduled for 3:00 PM.