CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Feb. 12, 2016)-- In an epic battle between two of the nations' top teams, the No. 13 USF men's tennis team fell, 4-3, to No. 6 USC at the ITA National Indoor Championships Friday afternoon.
"It was really competitive, a lot of energy, a lot of fans. It was good, it was fun. The type of environment that you train for and do all the hard work to be in." said Coach Matt Hill.
The Bulls got off to a fast start, taking the doubles point in dominating fashion. Roberto Cid (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz (Gijon Asturas, Spain) swept the USC pairing of Rob Bellamy and Jake DeVine, 6-0, in the No. 3 spot. Sasha Gozun (Orhei, Moldova) and Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (Donetsk, Ukraine) tacked on the second victory, 6-3, over Max de Vroome and Jake Jaede.
"They're both seniors. They've been around each other for a long time, and last year was the first time they've played together, had a great year. Kind of had a rocky start this year, but got back to the basics they were doing last year and they did a good job of that today against a really good team." said Coach Hill.
Sophomore Peter Bertran (Santiago, Dominican Republic) provided a spark in the singles competition with a decisive 6-2, 6-1 result over Laurens Verboven. Bertran is now 3-0 on the season after first appearing in the lineup last weekend.
"We knew he was a really good player coming in." Coach Hill said, "We just had to get him settled down, and help find his style of play and to believe in what he's doing. It's going really well for him, so that's exciting for us."
No. 7 Cid remained undefeated (5-0) as well in singles competition with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 33 Nick Crystal. In the No. 1 position, Cid has dropped his first set and overcame the deficit three times this season. He accomplished this feat only once last season.
USF will play Illinois in the consolation bracket on Saturday. The full consolation draw will be announced at the conclusion of all of the first round matches.
For more information on the USF men's tennis program, follow @USFBullsMTennis on Twitter.
