Florida State Defeats Clemson

March 4, 2011

CLEMSON, SC – Florida State defeated Clemson 4-3 in a men’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tennis match at Clemson, SC Friday afternoon.

With the win, Florida State improves to 6-5 overall, and 1-1 in league play. Clemson falls to 10-3 overall and 0-1 in the ACC. Florida State is ranked 36th nationally, while the Tigers are ranked 51st. The match was played indoors at Clemson¹s Indoor Tennis Complex at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center.

After Florida State won the doubles point, the Seminoles went up 2-0 in the match when Jordan Kelly-Houston defeated Derek DiFazio of Clemson upset 60th-ranked Clint Bowles of Florida State 6-4, 6-4 at number two singles.

The Seminoles took a 3-1 when #21-ranked Vahid Mirzadeh defeated the Tigers’ Yannick Maden at number one singles 6-3, 6-2. Florida State clinched the match when Connor Smith defeated Kevin Galloway 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 at number three singles.

Clemson won the number five and six singles matches. At number five, Dominique Maden defeated Blake Davis of Florida State 6-2, 6-2. In the final match of the day, Zachary Rigsby won over the Seminoles Andres Bucaro 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-8).

“We are showing progress,” said Clemson Head Coach Chuck McCuen. “We are concentrating on the intangibles such as focus, determination, and hustle. We always are working on improving the skill level, but I feel we need to work on the elements of focus, determination, and hustle. We need to embrace these elements. Our sports psychologist, Dr. Milt Lowder has done a great job working with our team. He has done a great job helping us change our mindset.”

“We are becoming a complete team,” said McCuen. “I thought Derek DiFazio had a great match today. Dominique Maden also played well and had a big win. Zachary Rigsby played a complete match and showed a lot of determination, focus and hustle in winning a very close match. We have another good opponent, William & Mary coming in here on Monday. We will have to be ready and our team understands this,” said McCuen.

Clemson will play host to William & Mary on Monday, March 7 in the Tigers’ next home match. Match time is set for 2:00 p.m.

Today’s match marked the 34th meeting between the two schools on the tennis courts. The series is tied with each team winning 17 matches. The series began in 1962.

Florida State 4, Clemson 3

Singles 1. #21 Vahid Mirzadeh (FS) d. Yannick Maden (CU) 6-3, 6-2 2. Derek DiFazio (CU) d. #60 Clint Bowles (FS) 6-4, 6-4 3. Connor Smith (FS) d. Kevin Galloway (CU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 4. Jordan Kelly-Houston (FS) d. Gerardo Meza (CU) 6 -3, 7-5 5. Dominique Maden (CU) d. Blake Davis (FS) 6-2, 6-2 6. Zachary Rigsby (CU) d. Andres Bucaro (FS) 4-6, 7-6 1-0 (10-8) Order of Finish: 4, 2, 1, 3, 5, 6,

Doubles 1. #13 Mirzadeh/Smith (FS) d. DiFazio/Galloway (CU) 8-3 2. Y. Maden/Rigsby (CU) d. Bucaro/Reed (FS) 8-3 3. Bowles/Davis (FS) d. Juan Bolona/Meza (CU) 8-5 Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2