Bulls extend home winning streak

Winthrop 0, USF 7

For the second day in a row, the South Florida men’s tennis team shut out its opponent 7-0 at home.

On Wednesday the Bulls (11-4) defeated the Cornell Big Red. They followed up with a victory over the Winthrop Eagles (7-6) on Thursday.

“It’s been a good week for us,” coach Don Barr said. “We’ve played good tennis all around.”

No. 1 seed Lucas Jovita had a match against Rodrigo Santos of Winthrop. The two have known each other since they were children in their native Brazil. Their match went into a third-set tiebreaker with Jovita pulling it out 7-5, 3-6, 15-13.

“The match was really tough,” Jovita said. “But my forehand was working very well, which helped me win the tiebreaker.”

Jovita likes what he’s seeing out of the team right now as well.

“The team is playing very well,” Jovita said. “And if we keep improving, we can win our conference tournament and go to the NCAAs.”

No. 2 seed Mahmoud Hamed won his match 6-2, 6-0, as did No. 3 Jamal Adderley 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Sophomore Thomas Estrada – who was recently moved to the No. 4 seed – continued his success by winning 6-0, 6-2 to remain unbeaten in his new spot.

No. 5 freshman Michael Nusslein won both of his matches this week 6-0, 6-0. No. 6 Diego Toledo won his match 6-4, 6-0.

The Bulls also swept the doubles matches to earn the final point.