By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
AUBURN, Ala., FEB. 22, 2015 – The No. 24 Bulls battled through three different elements, three ranked opponents and a change in venue on the way to capturing the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic championship on Sunday.
Tournament MVP Roberto Cid clinched match point in singles for USF in a 4-0 victory over No. 50 Princeton at Auburn University's indoor courts. The Bulls improved to 7-4 by winning three straight matches as the tournament's top seed.
“The main thing about today was I thought pretty much everybody on the team managed their match very well like an experienced player,” head coach Matt Hill said. “That's something we've been talking about for the past few weeks.”
USF started its championship run with two matches in Montgomery, Ala., before rain forced things indoors on Sunday. The Bulls toughed out frigid temperatures and rolled past No. 57 Boise State, 4-0, on Friday. USF fought through windy conditions Saturday and booked a trip to the title match with a 4-2 win over No. 38 Texas Tech.
“It's like every day was different and they really did a good job of staying composed and being professional with how they went about things,” Hill said.
USF got down to business right away on Sunday, clinching the first point of the match with wins in the second and third doubles spots. Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz and Cid started things off by cruising past Josh Yablon and Alex Day, 6-1.
Sasha Gozun and Vadym Kalyuzhnyy secured the point by outlasting Luke Gamble and Diego Vives, 7-6, and it wasn't easy. Gozun was serving for match point before the sophomore and Kalyuzhnyy had to pull out the victory in a tiebreaker.
“It was a great example of how much they've grown just from the Ohio State weekend,” Hill said. “They lost a couple of match points in the breaker and they still stayed composed and finished it out. That was huge.”
Kalyuzhnyy kept the momentum building for the Bulls by defeating Dan Richardson in the sixth singles spot, 6-3, 6-4. Gozun followed with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Yablon in the third spot.
Cid, ranked No. 22 in the nation, finished off the title victory by getting past No. 117 Zack McCourt, 6-0, 6-4, in the top singles position. USF is now 2-0 all-time against Princeton after starting the series with a victory in Tampa in 2010.
“The guys really came out strong from the very beginning, which was great to see. It was a great improvement from the semifinals,” Hill said.
Fans can watch the Bulls face off against UCF for free when the in-state rivals clash at the USF Varsity Courts on Friday, March 6 at 2 p.m. USF continues its homestand Sunday, March 8 against George Washington at 1 p.m.
No. 24 USF 4, No. 50 Princeton 0
Blay Gray Tennis Championship match
Doubles
McCourt/Colautti (Princeton) def. No. 58 Pramming/Roberts (USF), 7-5
Gozun/Kalyuzhnyy (USF) def. Gamble/Vives (Princeton), 7-6
Gonzalez-Muniz/Cid (USF) def. Yablon/Day (Princeton), 6-1
Singles
No. 22 Roberto Cid (USF) def. No. 117 Zack McCourt (Princeton), 6-0, 6-4
Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz (USF) vs. Tom Colautti (Princeton), 6-2, 3-4 (DNF)
Sasha Gozun (USF)) def. Josh Yablon (Princeton), 6-4, 6-3
Oliver Pramming (USF) vs. Alex Day (Princeton), 6-7, 1-4 (DNF)
Justin Roberts (USF) vs. Kial Kaiser (Princeton), 6-2, 4-5 (DNF)
Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (USF) def. Dan ) Richardson (Princeton), 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: Doubles 3, 1, 2; singles 6, 3, 1
Records: USF 7-4, Princeton 9-2
