University of South Florida
Illinois State
Bulls Post Second Straight 7-0 Win at Home
April 01, 2012 | Men's Tennis
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA - The relentless Bulls' perfect week continued Saturday afternoon.
The USF men's tennis team started a new winning streak with a 7-0 victory over Illinois State back on its home court after handing UCF a 7-0 loss on Thursday in Tampa. The Bulls have not dropped a match yet this week in their pursuit of becoming a team that puts away opponents.
"They're learning how to close out matches and stay ahead when we should be ahead, not make it into a match," USF head coach Don Barr said. "They're learning to jump on people and stay on top of them."
The Bulls got rolling in doubles when Federico Sabogal and Wael Kilani teamed up and dominated Skip Span and Jusso Ojanen, 8-0, in the No. 2 spot. Lucas Marin-Salcedo and Guillermo De Vilchez took just a bit longer in an 8-4 victory at the No. 3 position and locked up the doubles point, causing Yannick Yoshizawa and Oliver Pramming to wrap it up at the top spot with a 5-4 victory.
Saturday's match was delayed by rain, but USF stayed focused and sealed up the victory by winning all six singles matches in two sets. The Redbirds got to a fourth point in a set only twice before the Bulls improved to 7-1 at home this spring.
"I think we're getting comfortable, especially playing on our home courts," Barr said.
USF has won four of its past five matches and gets a chance to keep the hot stretch of tennis going at noon on Sunday against Marquette back at the USF Varsity Courts.
"I'm a firm believer that losing can be a habit and winning can be a habit," Barr said. "When you just stay in there, after a while you can start to do something good and make that into a winning streak."
USF 7, Illinois State 0
Doubles
1. Yannick Yoshizawa/Oliver Pramming (USF) def. Alexander Pelaez/Tuomos Manner, 5-4
2. Federico Sabogal/Wael Kilani (USF) def. Skip Span/Jusso Ojanen, 8-0
3. Lucas Marin-Salcedo/Guillermo De Vilchez (USF) def. Jordan Badenko/Willi Peter, 8-4
Singles
1. Kilani (USF) def. Pelaez, 6-0, 6-4
2. Yoshizawa (USF) def. Manner, 6-0, 6-1
3. Juan Carlos Acuna Gerard (USF) def. Span, 6-3, 6-2
4. Ravi Patel (USF) def. Ojanen, 6-4, 6-1
5. Marin-Salcedo (USF) def. Peter, 6-1, 6-1
6. Pramming (USF) def. Badenko, 6-1, 6-1
