BRADENTON, Fla. -- The No.2 seeded Barry Buccaneers Men's Tennis team defeated the No.1 seeded Saint Leo Lions 4-3 in the SSC Tournament Championship on Saturday at the IMG Academy Tennis Courts. 

The Bucs upset the No.1 seeded and No.1 nationally ranked team to win their sixth- straight SSC Tournament Championship. The Bucs have now won a total of 18 SSC tournaments championships, which is tied for Rollins for the most in SSC history. With the win the Bucs receive an automatic qualification to the 2023 NCAA Division II Championships. The Bucs will look to win thier fourth-straight National Championship. With the Bucs victory, Barry U now has 103 SSC Championships. 

The Bucs started the match strong, picking up the doubles point thanks to Alessandro Giuliato and Adam Lynch clinching at the Doubles #2 court, beating Tao Castillo Bernal/Ghali Mensour 6-4. 

The match was tied at 3-3, and Arnau Rodriguez went into a third-set tiebreaker against Nicolas Bacella, where Rodriguez fought him off to secure the win for the Bucs in dramatic fashion. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: #4 Barry 4, #1 Saint Leo 3
Records: Barry (19-5), Saint Leo (22-3)
SERIES: Bucs lead series 42-3

SUMMARY:

Doubles

1. Martin Soukal/Vincent Thiel def. Alejandro Ibañez Gallego/Arnau Rodriguez (BU) 6-4 
2. Alessandro Giuliato/Adam Lynch (BU) def. Tao Castillo Bernal/Ghali Mensour (SLU) 6-4
3. Tim Büttner/Alessio Demichelis (BU) def. Nicolas Bacella/Luis Iriarte (SLU) 6-1

Singles

1. Martin Soukal (SLU) def. Alejandro Ibañez Gallego (BU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
2. Vincent Thiel (SLU) def. Alejandro Palacios (BU) 6-2, 6-4 
3. Alessandro Giuliato (BU) def. Nicolas Bacella (SLU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Arnau Rodriguez (BU) def. Tao Castillo Bernal (SLU) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3)
5. Luis Iriarte (SLU) def. Alessio Demichelis (BU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Tim Büttner (BU) def. Ghali Mensour (SLU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

ON THE HORIZON

The Bucs advance to the regionals, which will be Apr. 28th - May 2nd. The site is undetermined as of now.