Men’s tennis blows by Boston College
After beating conference opponent St. John’s University 6-1 on Wednesday, men’s tennis head coach Don Barr expressed a desire to see sharper performance from his team. His players responded, shutting out Boston College 7-0 at home Thursday. The shut out is the first for men’s tennis since a Feb. 22, 2005 match against Stetson.
“We’re playing much better,” Barr said. “I’m pleased with how we closed out our matches (Thursday). What matters is the gradual progress the team has displayed. We are getting stronger with each match, which is how it needs to be as our schedule is getting more difficult.”
The Bulls (5-6), who have won four of their last five matches, established the tone early by shutting down the Eagles (2-6) in doubles play. Henning Hipp and Daniel Daudt easily defeated Boston College’s Sam Wagner and Geoff Mueller 8-2 in doubles play. Marc Jaeger and Ales Svigelj came away with an 8-5 win against Brian Garber and Soma Kesthely. With the doubles point already wrapped up, Thomas Estrada and Mahmoud Hamed kept their focus to solidify the sweep by defeating Jason Sechrist and Thomas Nolan 8-7.
Not only did USF to win go on every singles point, but all of the team’s players finished their respective matches in straight sets with victories.
Estrada was the first to finish, overcoming a sluggish start to handily beat Dennis Reardon 6-4, 6-0. Hamed improved an 8-3 season singles record with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over the Eagles’ Wagner.
Svigelj won his second match 6-2, 7-6 while playing in the No. 1 spot for the Bulls in a hard fought match against Kesthely. Hipp and Daudt recorded wins of 6-4, 6-2 and 6-4, 6-0, respectively.
After struggling in singles play this season, Jaeger was in his finest form competing in the No. 2 spot for the Bulls. Textbook play and pure talent was on display as Jaeger shot down the Sechrist 6-0, 6-2.
“I think today was a great day,” Jaeger said. “We were coming off a win (Wednesday), so that helped. We’ve done better in doubles and we were very confident after winning the doubles against them today.”