The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Tennis Finishes Second At Seminole Team Tournament
1/27/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 25, 2003
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ----- The UAB men's tennis team (1-1) defeated Central Florida, 4-2, in opening round dual match action before falling to Florida State, 5-0, to place second at the 2003 Seminole Team tournament hosted by FSU at the Scott Speicher Tennis Complex on Saturday.
Against UCF, the Blazers won three singles matches and two doubles contests to take the doubles point. UAB's Andre Maier defeated Ener Gursoy, 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 3 match. Ruben Zrihan beat Jacob Auerbach, 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 5 contest, while Dino Mancarella defeated Antonio Sierra, 6-0, 6-2 at No. 6 singles. In doubles play, the Blazers' Mancarella and Maier teamed to beat Simon Jager and Augusto Sanabria, 8-5, while Patrick Suhrbier and Samzaruz Zaman defeated Gursoy and Augusto Strangberg, 8-2.
"Against Central Florida, I think the difference was our depth," said UAB head coach Derek Tarr. "Our No. 3, 5, and 6 guys played very well, but we need to improve at the top of the lineup. I think we had more depth than UCF and that was what allowed us to advance."
The Blazers had a more difficult time against the Seminoles, falling 5-0, as UAB lost the doubles point and four singles matches. Florida State's Mat Cloer defeated Patrick Suhrbier, 7-5, 6-4 in the No. 1 match. At No. 2, UAB's Ivan Andreev fell to Alex Herrera, 7-5, 6-1. FSU's Heiner Tadault beat Zrihan, 6-3, 6-0 in the No. 5 match, while Rodrigo Laub defeated Mancarella, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6 singles. UAB's lone win came at No. 1 doubles, as Kristijan Mitrovski and Andreev beat Cloer and Laub, 8-6, but FSU took the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3.
"Our conditioning was a problem against Florida State," said Tarr. "We have to improve our physical conditioning if we're going to be able to beat a team as good as Florida State."
