Clemson Men’s Tennis Eliminated from ACC Tournament by Florida State

April 22, 2010

CARY, NC – The No. 48 Clemson men’s tennis team was eliminated from the ACC Tournament by #28 Florida State at the Cary Tennis Complex on Thursday. The seventh-seeded Seminoles (14-8) ousted the 10-seed Tigers (17-10) by a 4-0 margin, and will advance to take on Duke on Friday at noon, while the Tigers will await word on an NCAA Tournament bid.

“It’s always hard to lose. The first time we played these guys, some of the matches weren’t even close,” said Head Coach Chuck McCuen. “I was really happy with how we competed today. We dropped a tough one at flight one, and if that one goes differently, we led on each of the other three courts, and it could have gone 4-3 our way.

The Seminoles struck first in taking the doubles point. The 38th ranked duo of Bowles and Abone took out Clemson’s pair of Wesley Moran and Juan Bolona, 8-1. The Seminoles then clinched the point with an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles over Dettinger and Bizjak. In a showdown of nationally-ranked doubles teams at No. 1, the teams did not finish with #37 Florida State leading 5-4 over Clemson’s 48th-ranked duo of Boryachinskiy and DiFazio

Mizradeh locked up Florida State’s second point with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Kevin Galloway at flight two. They took a 3-0 lead when Jordan Kelly-Houston defeated Rok Bizjak at flight four, 6-1, 6-4. After coming back from a 5-0 deficit in the first set to post a 7-6 (3) win, #25 Aubone won the second set, 6-1 over Derek DiFazio to clinch the match.

Clemson led at the other three positions, but in tournament play, the match stops as soon as the outcome is decided.

“I told the guys that we want to get one percent better every day, and I think we did get better every day as the season went on,” said McCuen. “Every team in the conference says, the M.O. on us is to be ready for a long day, and that we just keep fighting. I think we’re getting close. We’re right there for an NCAA bid.”

#28 Florida State v. #49 Clemson April 22, 2010 – Cary, NC – ACC Tournament First Round

Doubles 1. #37 Smith/ Mizradeh (FSU) led #48 Boryachinskiy/DiFazio (CU), dnf, 6-4 2. #38 Bowles/Abone (FSU) d. Moran/Bolona (CU), 8-1 3. Kelly-Houston (FSU) d. Dettinger/Bizjak (CU), 8-5 Order of Finish: 2,3

Singles 1. #25 Aubone (FSU) def. Derek DiFazio (CU), 7-6(3), 6-1 2. #57 Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU) def. Kevin Galloway (CU), 6-1, 6-0 3. Carlos Alvarez (CU) led. #72 Clint Bowles (FSU), 3-6, 6-3, 4-3 dnf 4. Jordan Kelly-Houston(FSU) def. Rok Bizjak (CU), 6-1, 6-4 5. Gera Boryachinskiy (CU) led Connor Smith (FSU) 7-5, 3-6, 2-0 dnf 6. Welsey Moran (CU) led Anderson Reed (FSU), 3-6, 5-2 dnf Order of Finish: 2,4,1*