MIAMI SHORES, Fla.—The sixth-ranked Barry Buccaneers claimed the Sunshine State Conference men’s tennis regular season title with a 5-4 win over the fifth-ranked Lynn Fighting Knights at the Buccaneer Tennis Center on Wednesday.
The Bucs reunited their top doubles team of Thomas Hipp and Patrick Rittenauer, which hadn’t played together in six matches, and they stayed unbeaten at 11-0 with a sound 8-4 thrashing of Lorenzo Cava and Jan Macko who had takes over the number one spot in the ITA national poll. Martin Jensen and Manuel Lauter made it 2-0 Barry with an 8-3win over Tom Whittaker and Regnier Azevedo at number two. The Knights captured the third flight 8-4.
In singles, Hipp celebrated his new national ranking of three with a brisk 6-3, 6-2 win over number-nine Cava at the top flight and Rodriguez made it 4-1 with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Azevedo at number four. Riegraf inched the Knights closer by beating Werschel 6-4, 6-3 at number three.
The last three singles all went to third sets. But the first was the most crucial as Lauter closed out Koehle 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 at number six to give the Bucs the match. Number 20 Rittenauer fell to 19th-ranked Carsuza 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 at number two. At number five, Macko took the super tiebreaker 10-4 over Benninghaus in a match that nearly went the other way. At 5-4 in the second set, Macko broke a string on his last racquet at match point and, despite violating the time code, was not assessed a point penalty by official Richard Farkis. Macko went on to take the set 7-5 and win the super tiebreaker.
The win clinches the top seed and a bye in the first round of the SSC Tournament at Hillsborough CC in Tampa, Fla. The tournament, which runs Apr. 20-22, is hosted by Saint Leo.
Tennis Match Results
Lynn vs Barry
4/12/2006 at Miami Shores, Fla.
#6 Barry 5, #5 Lynn 4
Singles competition:
1. #3 Thomas Hipp (BUM) def. #9 Lorenzo Cava (LUM) 6-3, 6-2
2. #19 Julien Carsuzaa (LUM) def. #20 Patrick Rittenauer (BUM) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. #42 Dennis Riegraf (LUM) def. Roman Werschel (BUM) 6-4, 6-3
4. Victor Rodriguez (BUM) def. Regnier Azevedo (LUM) 6-4, 6-0
5. Jan Macko (LUM) def. Dirk Benninghaus (BUM) 2-6, 7-5, 10-4
6. Manuel Lauter (BUM) def. Raphael Koehle (LUM) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. Thomas Hipp/Patrick Rittenauer (BUM) def. #1 Lorenzo Cava/Jan Macko (LUM) 8-4
2. Martin Jensen/Manuel Lauter (BUM) def. Tom Whittaker/Regnier Azevedo (LUM) 8-3
3. Julien Carsuzaa/Dennis Riegraf (LUM) def. Dirk Benninghaus/Roman Werschel (BUM) 8-4
Match Notes:
Lynn 14-5, 5-1 SSC; National ranking #5
Barry 14-3, 5-1 SSC; National ranking #6