Presbyterian Falls to Barry, 5-0, in Men's Tennis Regional Final
May 8, 2004

MIAMI SHORES, FL-- The Barry Buccaneers advanced to the NCAA Division II National Tournament at Sanlando Park with a 5-0 win over the Presbyterian Blue Hose on Sunday at the Buccaneer Tennis Center.

Barry swept the doubles. After exchanging games on the front of the set, the Bucs' Victor Rodriguez and Alex Praderas rallied to post an 8-5 win over Nick Osborne and Al Morgan at number three. At number one, Thomas Hipp and Gerold Wiring handed the Blue Hose's duo of Paul Ratchford and Graeme Lauriston their first loss of the season 8-3. Sebastian Losavio and Filip Norrman completed the sweep with an 8-2 win at number two over Kshitij Dwivedi and Hector Rincon.

In singles, Hipp made quick work of Rincon at number one, winning 6-4, 6-0. Though Barry won the first set at five of the six singles flights, the Blue Hose did not give up, but continued to battle through the end of the match. Rodriguez finally closed out the win with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Lauriston at number four.

The Bucs (21-5), who finished tied for third at the nationals in 2003, will face the Ospreys of North Florida in the first round of the national tournament on Wednesday, May 12 at Sanlando Park in Altamonte, Springs, Fla. Presbyterian closes the season at 18-4.

QUOTES:

BU Dr. George Samuel: "It feels real good to win here today. We played a little slow yesterday, but we came to play today. The team really pulled together. Our chemistry was a big key to the win."

PC Paul Maxwell: "I thought we had to come out and get at least one doubles point to be successful today. Barry did a real good job taking it right to us from the start. This does nothing to take away from a great season. I am really proud of our guys and how they played all season long."

BU Thomas Hipp: "We were really rolling today as a team. We're really playing good team tennis right now. Now that we're in the nationals, anything can happen."

PC Hector Rincon: "We were excited about the opportunity today to prove ourselves. We had a really good season. We improved from last year by winning in the first round and making the region finals."