WINTER PARK, Fla. (March 23, 2026) –An exciting week kicked off in historic fashion as Rollins welcomed Brown University to town for the first time in program history on Monday afternoon. The scrimmage with the Bears also broke an 18-year hiatus since the Tars had last squared off with an Ivy League foe.
Back on Saint Patrick's Day of 2008, Rollins narrowly defeated Cornell. Today, the match with the Big Red's conference counterparts, did not count towards a record. Still, Monday's contest gave the Tars an incredible opportunity to tune up for a pair of ranked matchups in the days to come. Three of the next four matches for the men donning the Anchor R will feature Sunshine State Conference adversaries found in the
latest ITA poll.
Carrying a 15-6 record in tow from Providence, Rhode Island, the Northeast foes seeking warm weather certainly got a glimpse of the sun. With blue skies and temperatures in the eighties, the Bears were also greeted by a stout performance by the hosts, each side trading blows for a competitive contest throughout.
On the doubles side, the Bears edged the Tars with victories on courts two and three. The highlight of doubles play came courtesy of the headline pair,
Pete Tran and
Richard Stoiberer. Trailing 1-4, the duo never conceded, eventually battling back and winning 7-5.
Under an alternate format, every Tar participated, including freshman
Zeteny Paragi. Making his debut in Winter Park, the native Hungarian played one set, falling in a tight 4-6 duel.
Elsewhere, sophomore Pietro Capellaro dropped a close set 4-6 before slipping 1-6. Fellow second year man
Pete Tran split a pair of sets, first losing 4-6 before fighting past Brown's Alexander Bravo, 6-4. Bravo to you, Pete!
Mo Anterist joined the fun with his second set victory, six games to two. While Anterist dropped his first, the impressive response provides a great building block for this week. The same can be said about narrow defeats by each of the captains,
Nico de Giacomo and Richie Stoiberer. The upperclassmen each were on the doorstep of victories but fell just short in both sets.
Finally, on the top two courts,
Fabian Gusic came out on top in his only set of the day, pulling out a 7-5 win. While from court one,
Lawson Prather was on the other side of a tight decision in his first tussle. Nevertheless, showing poise beyond his grade classification, Prather defeated University of Washington transfer Ivan Sodan, 6-2 in the set to follow.
Another unique element about the day comes via Head Coach
Jay Friedman's coaching resume. Prior to Winter Park, the Tars leader made his last coaching stop in Providence, where he helped guide the Bears as an assistant for four years. Today, Friedman was pleased with the performance his team displayed.
"Very happy we had this opportunity today. The guys enjoyed the friendly competition and seeing how another high academic team performs on the court," Friedman remarked.
"I think we had a lot of good takeaways that will stand us in good stead for the rest of the season and hopefully a good life experience for all."
In the short term, a date with the Lions of St. Leo awaits. And there is no doubt today's match was played with the mindset of preparing to bring their best for the SSC wrangle in the den.
"We hope to capitalize on this experience come Thursday in St Leo," Friedman concluded.
You can follow the action all season long, at
Rollinssports.com.
