Box Score

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Barry University men's tennis answered a solid test in a resounding way.

The No. 3-ranked Buccaneers remained unbeaten with a 9-0 sweep of No. 12 Rollins Sunday at Buccaneer Tennis Center. Barry improved to 16-0 overall, 5-0 in the Sunshine State Conference. Rollins fell to 10-6, 1-3.

"They played exceptional today," Barry assistant coach Kern Pedersen said of the Bucs. "They came out ready to play from the beginning."

At No. 3 doubles, Franco Echenique and Dominik Haider stormed out to a 6-0 lead before the Tars pair of Jacobo Herrero and Patrick Sell picked up a game. But the Buccaneers wrapped it up, 8-1, by winning the last two games.

At No. 2 doubles, Barry's Renato Lombardi and Fabian Pronnet jumped out to a 3-Love lead on Robin Marchione and Malte Christesen. The Tars pair picked up a couple games, but Lombardi and Pronnet rattled off five straight games to win the match, 8-3.

At the top flight, No. 8 Fabian Groetsch and Ahmed Triki won the first couple games to jump out to an early lead on 16^th-ranked Anton Bettink and Adrian Di Felice, but the Rollins pair fought back to win two games to cut Barry's lead to 3-2. The Bucs top duo broke the Tars, and Groetsch served for a 5-2 lead. With Triki serving, Groetsch batted away a Tars return at the net for a winner. Triki chased down a ball into the corner and sent a laser down the line for another winner. Groetsch ran down a ball to the side and then hit a baseline winner down the line. Triki fired up an ace. In a back and forth game, Groetsch slammed down a point at the net to give the Bucs a 6-3 lead. But the Bucs couldn't hit a return on the Tars' next serve, and Rollins cut it to 6-4. Groetsch's serve put the Bucs ahead 7-4, but the Tars held serve in the following game to pull within 7-5. With Triki serving, Groetsch hit a drop shot winner, and the Tars couldn't return the next serve. After Rollins picked up the next point, Triki's serve caused problems again as the Tars' return sailed wide. Triki closed the match with an ace for an 8-5 win.

"The chemistry in the doubles, everything is clicking," Pedersen said. "They're really communicating."

Rollins got out to early leads in five of the six singles matches, but the Bucs battled in back-and-forth swings. Barry's Nico Dreer was the lone exception as he rolled to a 6-0, 6-2 domination of Mike Santa Lucia at No. 5 singles to give the Buccaneers a 4-0 lead.

Lombardi trailed early, but took control a few games into his No. 6 singles match with Keegan Burger to win, 6-3, 6-2. His win was the Bucs' clinching fifth point.

Trailing 5-4 in the first set, fourth-ranked Groetsch broke sixth-ranked Bettink to tie it at 5-5. Groetsch served for a 6-5 lead. Then with Bettink serving, Groetsch charged the net and banged down a ball into the corner to wrap up the first set, 7-5. Bettink broke Groetsch to take a 2-1 lead in the second. But Groetsch battled back, breaking Bettink's serve before hitting a backhand winner to the corner for a 4-3 lead. Groetsch went on to win the last two games to pick up his fourth win at No. 1 singles this season, 7-5, 6-3. 

Sell, ranked No. 50, had a difficult time handling third-ranked Triki's serve as the Bucs All-American bounced back from an early deficit to take a 5-4 lead. Triki won the next game to take the first set en route to a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles.

Haider trailed by a game in the opening set of his No. 3 singles match with the South Region's 20^th-ranked Marchione, but the Bucs newcomer battled back to win the next two games to take a 6-5 lead. Marchione won the next game to send the first set to a tiebreaker, and the Tars veteran pulled it out, 7-2 in the tiebreaker. Haider rallied to win the second set, forcing a tiebreaker. Haider got out to an 8-3 lead in the super tiebreaker and held on to win, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 10-5.

At No. 4 singles, Pronnet dropped the first set to Christesen, but fought back to win the second and force a tiebreaker. Pronnet picked up momentum as the match wore on to win, 2-6, 6-4, 10-3.

"Pronnie only had one error in doubles," Pedersen said. "He said he was unlucky. I mean come on."

The win was Barry's eighth shutout of the season, including its past two in league play. The Bucs will host Division I Central Florida Saturday in an 11 a.m. exhibition.