Monday, 02/25/2013

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The No. 29 Florida State men's tennis team (9-1) had a successful Saturday by defeating both FAU and Mercer 7-0. The Seminoles went on to win 18 of 18 matches and only lost two sets on the day. The last time the team started with a 9-1 record was in 2010. Today marked the fourth of five doubleheaders of the season.

"One of the things I liked today was that we won every match we played," said head coach Dwayne Hultquist. "That wasn't necessarily easy to do. João (Gauer) had to come from behind to win his match and Benjamin (Lock) had to win a tiebreaker in the third for his. To win all the matches is important and a good sign for us."

The Seminoles started the morning against Florida Atlantic and swept the Owls for the doubles point. With senior Andres Bucaro out of the country competing in the Davis Cup, doubles partners were switched around. Seniors Jordan Kelly-Houston and Anderson Reed nabbed an 8-0 win on court one. Sophomore Dominic Cotrone and freshman Michael Rinaldi got the 8-4 win on court two while on court three sophomore Benjamin Lock and junior Blake Davis won 8-5.

In singles play, Davis got the first win with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Richard Meade on court four. No. 107 Cotrone came off the courts next by defeating Will Neuner 6-4, 6-0 on court one. Clinching his fifth match of the season was Reed who topped Andrei Morin-Kougoucheff 6-2, 6-4.

Rinaldi topped Matthew Samberg 6-1, 6-4 on court five while No. 99 Lock defeated Jose Fantova on court two 6-3, 6-3. The comeback of the day went to redshirt-freshman João Gauer over Robert Dubuque on court six. After Gauer lost the first set, he was down 5-2 in the second set and proceeded to win five straight games to force a third set tiebreaker. Gauer won the tiebreaker for an overall score of 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (8).

In the afternoon, the Seminoles once again swept in doubles while the same pairs all pulled away with wins. In singles play, after being the last one off earlier in the day, Gauer walked off the courts with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Peter Tauchner on court six. On court one, No. 107 Cotrone topped Arnav Mohanty 6-0, 6-1. Davis topped Joao Pagan 6-1, 6-2 on court four to clinch the match against the Bears.

"It was a good match today," said Davis. "We played a doubleheader out there, those are always tough physically, especially for me coming off back surgery in the fall. My fitness isn't quite to the point where I want it to be, so I knew that today would be a tough challenge for me. The team did an excellent job the first match, took care of business and fought through the fatigue in the second match to get it done."

After the match was clinched, Kelly-Houston came off the courts with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Anderson Scarpa on court two. After a tight first set, Rinaldi came away with a 7-5, 6-1 victory on court five over Vincent DeLise. Lock finished the day with a 6-2, 6-7 (6), 1-0 (8) win over Arsav Mohanty on court three.

Florida State takes on No. 11 Florida next Saturday at noon. For more information, check back to Seminoles.com. You can also follow the team at Twitter.com/FSU_MTennis.

Tennis Match Results
#29 Florida State 7, Florida Atlantic 0

Doubles competition
1. Jordan Kelly-Houston/Anderson Reed (FS) def. Bacha, Sean/Neuner, Will (FAU) 8-0
2. Dominic Cotrone/Michael Rinaldi (FS) def. Fantova, Jose/Meade, Richard (FAU) 8-4
3. Benjamin Lock/Blake Davis (FS) def. M.-Kougoucheff, A./Dubuque, Robert (FAU) 8-5
Order of finish: Doubles 1,3,2

Singles competition
1. #107 Dominic Cotrone (FS) def. Neuner, Will (FAU) 6-4, 6-0
2. #99 Benjamin Lock (FS) def. Fantova, Jose (FAU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Anderson Reed (FS) def. M.-Kougoucheff, A. (FAU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Blake Davis (FS) def. Meade, Richard (FAU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Michael Rinaldi (FS) def. Samberg, Matthew (FAU) 6-1, 6-4
6. João Gauer (FS) def. Dubuque, Robert (FAU) 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-8)
Order of finish: Singles 4,1,3,5,2,6

#29 Florida State 7, Mercer University 0

Doubles competition
1. Anderson Reed/Jordan Kelly-Houston (FS) def. Joao Pagan/Peter Tauchner (MER) 8-4
2. Dominic Cotrone/Michael Rinaldi (FS) def. Arnav Mohanty/Arsav Mohanty (MER) 8-5
3. Blake Davis/Benjamin Lock (FS) def. Anderson Scarpa/Vincent DeLise (MER) 8-6
Order of finish: Doubles 1,3,2

Singles competition
1. #107 Dominic Cotrone (FS) def. Arnav Mohanty (MER) 6-0, 6-1
2. Jordan Kelly-Houston (FS) def. Anderson Scarpa (MER) 6-4, 6-4
3. #99 Benjamin Lock (FS) def. Arsav Mohanty (MER) 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 1-0 (10-8)
4. Blake Davis (FS) def. Joao Pagan (MER) 6-1, 6-2
5. Michael Rinaldi (FS) def. Vincent DeLise (MER) 7-5, 6-1
6. João Gauer (FS) def. Peter Tauchner (MER) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: Singles 6,1,4,2,5,3