LAKELAND, Fla. (April 10, 2025) –The Rollins College men's tennis team hit the road once again for a date with SSC foe Florida Southern on Thursday. In a closely contested battle between the two top 15 ranked teams, the Tars fell at the hands of the Mocs, 4-3.
The Tars jumped out to an early lead, seizing the doubles point in dramatic fashion. After
Richard Stoiberer and
Pietro Cappellaro dropped the number three doubles' match, Rollins knotted the score on court one. There,
Mo Anterist and
Fabian Gusic were able to bounce back from two narrow losses in their last couple of doubles duals, which set up for number two doubles to be a winner take all. It came down to the wire, but
Luke Quaynor and
Nico de Giacomo pulled out a gritty, tiebreaking 7-5 victory. This was the first time the Rollins duo shared the court since a March 24
th match with Franklin Pierce. Quaynor and de Giacomo are now 3-0 on the season while playing together.
Onto the singles action, which was just as tightly played. After a thrilling tiebreaking victory on the doubles court, Quaynor was not able to carry the momentum forward, falling in singes one, 6-3, 6-3.
Fabian Gusic was the next Tar to be defeated, dropping is match on court number three, 6-2, 7-6 (3). And after a number six singles defeat with
Pietro Cappellaro slipping 6-3, 7-5, the Tars found themselves in a hole.
With Florida Southern only needing one more match to clinch, the Tars did not concede defeat. Anterist won in three sets, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 and
Richard Stoiberer also saw his comeback efforts bear fruit on court five. After losing the first set 6-3, the junior battled back with a 7-5, 7-6 (2) victory. Unfortunately, during Stoiberer's epic battle, the Mocs snatched the win on court two with Mario Garoz of Florida Southern defeating de Giacomo 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5).
Coach
Jay Friedman had this to say about the determination the team showed, "I loved our guy's effort and composure despite some tough situations they faced." He continued, "Heck of a fight from the boys today. So proud of them."
The margin was slim, but Florida Southern snuck out of the match with a victory on senior day. The Tars will hold their senior day festivities on Tuesday, April 15
th when they welcome St. Thomas University to USTA's National Collegiate Campus. The match is set to begin at 3pm, but the senior celebration starts at 1:30pm.
