what happen to tennis team

[smazza]

4th seed in conference tourney is a far cry from how team started

[Papa_Bull]

Players are injured. They had to forfeit two matches.

[Papa_Bull]

Bulls Fall in Quarterfinals of C-USA Championships to Memphis, 4-3

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (April 16, 2004) – In what has been a common theme for the University of South Florida men’s tennis team in the last five matches, No. 5 and 6 singles were forfeited in a devastating 4-3 loss against unranked Memphis in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Championships, played in Memphis, Tenn.

The Bulls started on the right foot by taking two out of three doubles matches. The 55th-ranked tandem of senior Karim Benmansour and junior Uli Kiendl defeated Lee Taylor Walker and James Spence, 8-4, at the No. 1 position. Sophomore Fredy Barton teamed up with junior Andy Maroldt to clinch the doubles point for the Bulls against Alex Jago and Luke Campbell, 8-5, at the No. 3 spot.

Normally, winning the doubles results in taking a 1-0 lead at the start of the singles matches. That was not the case for the Bulls as three of the team members present in Memphis did not step on the court due to injuries. USF had to forfeit No. 5 and 6 singles for the third time this season.

Trailing 2-1 at the start of the four singles matches, the four healthy Bulls stepped in the court intending to win at least three out of the four matches to earn a spot in the semifinals.

Maroldt tied the match at 2-2 by winning his match at the No. 3 spot against Alex Bucewicz, 6-4, 6-3. Barton and Kiendl finished their matches almost at the same time, resulting in a 3-3 tie.

Ranked No. 66 in the nation, Kiendl lost to Walker, 6-4, 6-3.

Barton tied the match at 3-3 by downing James Spence, 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 2 spot.

The match came down to Escallon for the second time this season. In the first set, he was down 5-2 and came back to tie the set 5-5 against Martem Tamla at the No. 4 spot. After both players held serve, Escallon was up 4-1 in the tie-break with the serve. He had a set point at 6-5 but Tamla stayed strong and won the tie-break 9-7. After a thrilling first set, Tamla used the momentum and the home crowd to roll through the second set for a 5-1 lead. Escallon fought hard to keep the Bulls alive but it was not enough for a final 7-6, 6-3 loss and a final 4-3 team defeat.

“The guys battled hard,†Head Coach Don Barr said. “It was unfortunate that we could only count with only four players to play such an important match.

“In my 12 years at USF, we’ve never had to forfeit any matches before,†Barr said. “This year was something different for everybody and is just tough that in the last matches the healthy players had to be put in that position.â€Â

Memphis def. #54 USF, 4-3

Conference USA Championships April 15-18

Memphis, Tenn. April 16, 2004

Quarterfinals

Singles

1. Lee Taylor Walker (UM) def. #66 Uli Kiendl, USF, 6-4, 6-3

2. Federico Barton (USF) def. James Spence (UM), 6-4, 6-4

3. Andy Maroldt (USF) def. Alex Bucewicz (UM), 6-4, 6-3

4. Marten Tamla (UM) def. German Escallon, USF, 7-6, 6-3

5. USF forfeits the match

6. USF forfeits the match

Doubles

1. #55 Kiendl/Benmansour (USF) def. Walker/Spence (UM), 8-4

2. Bucewicz/Tamla (UM) def. Silveira/Escallon (USF), 8-4

3. Barton/Maroldt (USF) def. Jago/Campbell (UM), 8-5

   

[bulls96go]

season flushed