USF Athletics

No. 3 USF Headed to Sixth-Straight Conference Championship

April 20, 2019

ORLANDO, April 20, 2019 – Third-seeded USF defeated Temple today, 4-1, to advance to the American Athletic Conference championships. The four-time American Athletic Conference Champion Bulls will face UCF Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
Temple (16-7, 3-2) started the semifinals match in possession of the doubles point thanks to a 6-3 court-two finish over Jakub Wojcik (Delray Beach, Fla.) and Ivan Yatsuk (Minsk, Belarus) and a win on court three, 6-3, against Chase Ferguson (Melbourne, Australia) and Sergio Gomez Montesa (Valencia, Spain).
 
USF (16-7, 5-1) closed in on the Owl's lead with two timely wins in singles action. Gomez Montesa earned his 14^th win of the season with a, 7-5, 6-3, court-five success while Luquet picked up a win on court three, 6-3, 6-3.  The Bulls kept the momentum rolling with No. 18 Alberto Barroso-Campos (Montijo, Spain) cleaning up court one, 7-6 (6), 6-4, collecting his 44^th career victory.
 
With one win standing between South Florida and another appearance in the conference championship, action continued on courts two, four, and six. Wojcik fell in his first set on court four, 7-4, but forced a strong comeback and clinched the match in the following sets, 6-3, 6-2.
 
Quotable
Head coach, Ashley Fisher, on today's win and Jakub Wojcik's performance…
"This team gets better every match. We just know how to battle and win with heart and grit. That's what today came down to. Conditions were tough and not conducive to playing your best tennis but our guys just found a way to get to the finish line. What Kuba [Wojcik] was able to do today was one of the gutsiest efforts and performances I've seen in college tennis. Yesterday he served for the match and today dropped the first set after being up 5-3 and he was able to stay positive and optimistic and battled like a true warrior and captain of this team. It's an honor to be part of this group and we can't wait for things to get tough tomorrow."
 
 
Match Results
Doubles
1. #87 A. Caceres Casas/Mark Wallner (TEM) vs. #75 A. Barroso-Campos/Pierre Luquet (USF) no result
2. Eric Biscoveanu/Juan Araoz (TEM) def. Jakub Wojcik/Ivan Yatsuk (USF) 6-3
3. Uladzimir Dorash/Paolo Cucalon (TEM) def. Chase Ferguson/S. Gomez Montesa (USF) 6-3
Order of finish: (2,3)
 
Singles
1. #18 A. Barroso-Campos (USF) def. A. Caceres Casas (TEM) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
2. Mark Wallner (TEM) vs. Chase Ferguson (USF) no result
3. Pierre Luquet (USF) def. Paolo Cucalon (TEM) 6-3, 6-3
4. Jakub Wojcik (USF) def. Uladzimir Dorash (TEM) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
5. S. Gomez Montesa (USF) def. Eric Biscoveanu (TEM) 7-5, 6-3
6. Juan Araoz (TEM) vs. Ivan Yatsuk (USF) no result
Order of finish: (5, 3,1,4)
 
Up Next
USF will face UCF in the American Athletic Conference championship Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
UCF earned the No. 1 seed in the championship after a 12-9, 3-0 regular season consisting of conference wins against Tulane, USF, and Memphis. The Knights swept fifth-seeded Wichita State, 4-0, after taking down No. 9 seed SMU in the quarterfinals on Friday,4-0.
 
The Bulls previously faced their War on I-4 rival during the conference championship in 2017 where USF topped the Knights, 4-1.
 
 
About Men's Tennis