By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, JUNE 18, 2015 – USF men's tennis' meteoric rise to national prominence continued during the 2014-15 season and the Bulls don't plan on slowing down anytime soon.
Head coach Matt Hill's squad captured its second consecutive American Athletic Conference crown and made school history by going all the way to the NCAA Championship Sweet 16. More history was made shortly after the season ended when the Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranked the Bulls 16th in its national poll.
“It was really pleasing to see the program progressing in a healthy, forward direction,” Hill said. “To sit back and think of where we were three years ago when this all started to where it is now, it's exciting and easy to get hyped up about where we're going.”
Let's take a look back at some of USF's shining achievements this season and get a sneak peek at what's to come for the rapidly rising Bulls.
These Bulls Like the Big Moments
The bigger the stage, the better the Bulls play and it certainly showed in the results. USF dropped just two points in six matches of its title wins at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic and the USF Spring Break Tournament. The Bulls surrendered just one point in three matches at the American Athletic Conference Championship and swept host Tulsa in the finals.
“Some guys like big moments and some guys really don't like big moments,” Hill said. “They like big moments and they're not scared at all. They like being on someone else's courts and it's really been a training piece for us. They're playing guys that are transitional pros at the highest level and to beat these guys day in and day out, they know they're going to have to work harder on a daily basis.”
Bulls Excel in the Postseason
Conference glory was just the beginning for USF this postseason. The Bulls roared past Boise State, 4-0, in the first round of the NCAA Championship and swept host Virginia Tech, 4-0, in Blacksburg, Va. Virginia Tech was ranked No. 15 at the time and finished its season at 20-5.
“The impressive thing was that the Virginia Tech match was out of control,” Hill said. “Here is a team that's playing in the ACC, had been in the top 15 pretty much all year and they hadn't lost a match on those courts all season. I was really impressed with the way our guys went in there, competed the way we did and handled things with great composure and class.”
Bulls Break New Ground
Success against Virginia Tech propelled the Bulls to their first Sweet 16 appearance that was held at Baylor University, which took on a setting like the final fight scene in “Rocky.”
Instead of being in awe of the situation, underdog USF gave then-No. 2 Baylor a true battle in front of packed stands filled with Bears faithful. Roberto Cid and Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz quieted the crowd with an 8-4 victory to open doubles play and the pressure continued to mount for Baylor. USF nearly seized the doubles point while playing through tiebreakers on the two courts.
Senior Oliver Pramming put USF on the scoreboard by cruising past No. 58 Max Tchoutakian, 6-3, 6-2, in the third position and two more Bulls were midst of their matches when the Bears secured a 4-1 victory. Pramming and freshman Justin Roberts continued to represent USF well by reaching the NCAA Doubles Round of 16 at the Hurd Tennis Center.
“As a coach, it's easy to tell them, 'Hey, we don't want to show up there, look around and be excited to be here for the first time ever and grab a T-shirt and go home.' Those guys did not do that,” Hill said. “They expected to win that match, even after dropping the doubles point, which we had only done two times the whole year after we changed the doubles up. They expected to win that match, they fought and they gave themselves a good chance against a team that's No. 2 in the country and was one of the favored teams to win it.”
Loaded Lineup Powers USF
Three years ago, Hill and assistant coach Brandon Wagner knew they'd have to bring in the talent to get USF to the top and that's what has transpired.
Two-time American Player of the Year Roberto Cid (Dominican Republic) headlined the coaches' first recruiting class at USF. Sasha Gozun, a member of the first signing class from Moldova, and freshman Justin Roberts (Bahamas) went on to earn all-conference doubles honors this season along with Pramming. This season's lineup also included junior Gonzalez-Muniz (Spain) and sophomore Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (Ukraine), who helped the Bulls post a 21-7 overall record. All but one player from this season's lineup will return.
“This isn't a team that got here with a bunch of seniors and then falls off,” said Hill, a two-time American Coach of the Year. “That's really not the case for us. We really have a strong foundation and we're building on that right now as we speak.”
More Talent On the Way
Just making the lineup will be a tough task in itself for the Bulls because of the way Hill and Wagner continue to blaze the recruiting trails worldwide.
Florida State transfer Dominic Cotrone, a two-time All-ACC selection, is eligible to compete for the Bulls as a senior next season. Also eligible to play next season is recently signed sophomore transfer Peter Bertran, a Dominican Republic native, who went 15-4 in singles for the University of Georgia last season. Fans can expect more top-level players to join the mix leading up to the opening match.
“We add Dominic, Peter and we have some top recruits coming in,” Hill said. “The landscape of our training is going to look differently because it's going to be so competitive within our group to play.”
