BOCA RATON, Fla. (April 30, 2026) – The path to a Sunshine State Conference tournament title steadied along Thursday morning. Rollins came out firing, sweeping in doubles and completing the job on the solo courts over sixth seeded Embry-Riddle, 4-0.
 
Back on April 2^nd, the Tars came up short on all three courts of duo action against today's quarterfinal opposition. With a change of scenery and the start of a new season via the conference tournament, Rollins completely flipped the script.
 
First, it was Mo Anterist and Fabian Gusic, setting the tone early for a match that would quickly tilt in the Tars favor. The German combination's only loss this month came at the hands of the Eagles now four weeks ago. Today, a 6-2 humdinger from the middle got the party started. Then, Lawson Prather and Nico de Giacomo performed the same song and dance from court three. The two wins were enough to clinch the doubles point, while Richard Stoiberer and Pete Tran were just one game away from a win on the top line.
 
Lawson Prather soon filled the void of a court one win with his brilliance in singles. The first-year man out of Tulsa, Oklahoma had no love for a long match, cruising to a 6-1, 6-2 weep from the top. The SSC tournament victory was the first of its kind by a freshman since current senior captain Richard Stoiberer grabbed a win in his 2023 singles quarterfinal match.
 
From one end to the other, Pete Tran extended the Rollins pursuit with a straight set victory of his own. Going back and forth throughout the first set, Tran eventually worked his way to an initial advantage behind a 7-3 score in the tiebreaker. From there, the sophomore pressed on with a 6-3 score in the set to follow, etching his name in the winner's circle while also making his SSC tournament debut.
 
With singles wins book ended, captain Nico de Giacomo made sure that Rollins had the middle covered, too. In the process, the lefty put away the match behind a 6-4, 7-5 win on court three. Last time out against the Eagles, the Vienna native used an epic comeback in the third set to put Rollins over the edge. This time, contrary to the reputation of his hometown, there was no waiting. The straight set win sent the Tars to the semifinals.

Head coach Jay Friedman was pleased with the performance, especially given the fight from a tough Embry-Riddle team.
 
"Solid entrance today. Walked in really looking for opportunities to pull away and eventually in doubles they tacked nicely and the sails caught - sailing us through," Friedman shared.
 
"Embry Riddle never just goes away though, so I was very happy to see us find the resilience to finish out the key matches when they made a push," he concluded.
 
Match play will commence at 9am again tomorrow. Awaiting the third seeded Tars lies St. Leo, and the opportunity to amend history as the men did today. Last season, Embry-Riddle defeated Rollins in the SSC opening round, a defeat that was ultimately avenged today in short order. Meanwhile, the past seven results have gone the way of tomorrow's counterpart. What an awesome opportunity for the men in blue and gold to push forward and in doing so, flip history on its head once more.
 
Be sure to follow the action live, at Rollinssports.com.