SURPRISE, Ariz. -- After recovering from a 2-1 doubles deficit in the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Barry Buccaneers decided to do one better in the semifinals. The Bucs fell behind #12 Indianapolis 3-0 after doubles, but stormed back to win five singles matches and advance to the national championship match on Saturday.
The Bucs powerful singles lineup won the first set at five of the six singles matches to set the tone that would not be beat easily.
"I think that (singles play) has always been our strength year after year," Barry head coach George Samuel said. "It's the type of players we recruit. Most of them are tournament players and the style of play that most of them bring is base line tennis and they are very good at it. And many of them play in warm climates, which is an advantage most of the time. But it's not an advantage with the faster courts. And these courts are very fast, with a bit of altitude. So returning serve has been a bit of a problem.
"This group has such great chemistry and heart. They really surprised me today. Instead of putting their tails between their legs like a lot of teams would do, they came out fired up and all of a sudden we're winning the first set and every match."
Though they trailed 3-0, the Bucs' singles lineup was more than up to the task.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: #1 Barry 5, #12 Indianapolis 3
Records: Barry (25-2), Indianapolis (24-3)
DOUBLES:
SINGLES:
- The Bucs showed the strength of their singles lineup by winning the first set at five of the six matches.
- Versier, ranked 52nd, made short work of Huber, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3 to get the Bucs on the board.
- Bayldon picked up a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 5 over Drecshler to trim the lead to 3-2.
- Sixteenth-ranked Gomez knotted up the match with a 6-3,6-3 win over Lima at No. 2.
- Montrieul, ranked eighth, put the Bucs on top, despite losing his first set, with a 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 win over #42 Hoffacker at No. 1.
- Daniel Ventura pulled out a pair of tie-break wins, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (5), over Mueller at No. 4 to clinch the match for the Bucs.
- Flavio Matteoli was up 6-4, 6-7, 3-1 over Matej Kostadinov at No. 6 when the match ended.
NOTEWORTHY:
- The Bucs advance to the national championship for the 10th time, extending their own NCAA record.
- The Bucs will play #2 Columbus State in the championship. The Bucs met the Cougars was Mar. 3 in Valdosta, Ga. The Bucs won 5-3. Though four of Barry's singles players will be in the same spot, all three doubles teams have changed since then.
- The Cougars beat #13 Azuza Pacific 5-1 in the semifinals.
- It was the second time in national tournament play that the Bucs recovered from down 3-0 after doubles to win. On May 9, 2003, the Bucs fell behind Southwest Baptist 3-0 in the quarterfinals, but recovered with five singles wins to advance.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
"When we played CSU in Valdosta, I knew it was going to be a heck of a match. Their doubles were really impressive. But again, it was our singles that carried us to the win. I hope we click tomorrow and step out on the court and compete in doubles.
"I think it'll be interesting to see how they will react, being in the finals for the first time. There is a difference, playing for a national championship. Every serve, every stroke takes on added significance."
-- Barry head coach George Samuel
"We played an amazing doubles team today, honestly. So we were down 3-0. But once again, we showed that this team has a really good mentality and we came back. It was really tough conditions: really windy, (nearly 100 degree) temps. Really tough to control the ball. But we fought to the end and made it at the end. So it was just amazing."
--Barry junior, and ITA national player to watch, Pierre Montrieul
ON THE HORIZON:
Barry will play second-ranked Columbus State, in the NCAA National Championship match at 12:00 pm Eastern on Saturday, May. 12.
BOX SCORE
