TAMPA, Fla. (March 7, 2007) ? For the third time in the last four matches, the University of South Florida men's tennis team swept the doubles point en route to a win. The Bulls then took five of six singles matches to defeat St. John's University, 6-1, Wednesday afternoon in the team's first conference match of the year.
USF (4-6) captured the opening point with 8-1 victories by both Mahmoud Hamed and Thomas Estrada on court one, and Marc Jaeger and Ales Svigelj on court three. For good measure, Henning Hipp and Daniel Daudt added an 8-5 tally over SJU's Louis Desmarteaux and Claudio Halim in the second spot to complete the sweep.
Dating back to Feb. 18 against FAU, the men's tennis team has run the tables in the doubles column three of the last four matches and earned victories each time. The win against FAU also stopped the team's five-match losing streak and gave head coach Don Barr his 200th career victory.
Against St. John's (4-6), playing its third match in as many days, the Bulls gained a quick 3-0 overall edge as Hamed and Daudt each blanked their opponents on courts four and six, 6-0, 6-0.
The Red Storm then gained some momentum back as Desmarteaux defeated Svigelj 6-3, 6-3 at the first spot and Alex Svetlakov won the first set from Hipp in the third flight.
Estrada however, clinched the match on court four with a 6-4, 6-3 hard-fought win over Derek Wallensteen.
Jaeger earned his first singles win of the year with a third set tie-break victory over Artem Vlasenko in the second position, 6-3, 1-6, 1-0(3). The win is Jaeger's first triumph at the No. 2 spot in five tries this year.
“I felt this was a little bit of a letdown after how well we played against UF,” said Barr. “We need to learn how to be sharp. I know what this team can do, they're very talented and I feel like we're coming on. This was a conference match and conference teams always bring their ?A' games. We have to bring ours right back.”
The Bulls return to the USF Varsity Tennis Courts tomorrow to face Boston College in the second of a four-match in five days home stand. The Eagles come in with a 2-5 record and are currently on a four-match swing through Florida. First serve is set for 2 p.m. Admission is free.
USF 6, St. John's 1
Doubles
1) Hamed/Estrada (USF) def. Vlasenko/Green (SJU) 8-1
2) Hipp/Daudt (USF) def. Desmarteaux/Halim (SJU) 8-5
3) Jaeger/Svigelj (USF) def. Wallensteen/Svetlakov (SJU) 8-1
Singles
1) Louis Desmarteaux (SJU) def. Ales Svigelj (USF) 6-3, 6-3
2) Marc Jaeger (USF) def. Artem Vlasenko (SJU) 6-3, 1-6, 1-0(3)
3) Henning Hipp (USF) def. Alex Svetlakov (SJU) 1-6, 6-4, 7-5
4) Mahmoud Hamed (USF) def. Jordan Talbot (SJU) 6-0, 6-0
5) Thomas Estrada (USF) def. Derek Wallensteen (SJU) 6-4, 6-3
6) Daniel Daudt (USF) def. Tom Green (SJU) 6-0, 6-0
Order of Finish: 4,6,1,5,2,3
USF: 4-6 SJU: 4-6
