Box Score Box Score MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Seniors
Kevin Sielmann and
Fabian Groetsch helped create history on a day set aside for them.
Sielmann and Groetsch both picked up two victories as Barry University's No. 3-ranked men's tennis team beat No. 31 Palm Beach Atlantic, 9-0, Friday at Buccaneer Tennis Center on Senior Day. The Buccaneers (19-0) went unbeaten in the regular season for the second time in school history.
"When you're going through the heat of the battle, you don't really think about what you've accomplished," Barry coach
George Samuel said of his team's perfect record. "When you sit back and think about it later, it's a pretty darn good feeling."
Both Sielmann and Groetsch were part of the first unbeaten regular season two years ago.
"We can be happy we've played a pretty good season so far," Groetsch said. "Now the postseason starts, and we're all excited about that. We're looking forward to the next two weeks."
Groetsch and
Ahmed Triki, who own the No. 8 doubles ranking in the country, beat Nicholas Uryson and Romain Nowaczyk, 8-5, at the top flight to complete the sweep in pairs and improve to 16-1 together. Sielmann and
Dominik Haider beat Mark Heimberger and Matt Leeds, 8-4, at No. 2. Sielmann fired off an ace to end the match.
"When I hit the serve, I really wanted an ace to finish doubles here with an ace," Sielmann said. "I tried to do the same in singles, but it didn't work. I ended up with a winner with my forehand. That's fine, too."
Sielmann used his patented power game to blow past Leeds, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 5 singles for Barry's first point after doubles. He improved to 6-0 this season. Groetsch, who is ranked fourth in the country, was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Nowaczyk at No. 2 singles. He bumped his record to 9-3.
"I never make aces, so I wasn't aiming for that," Groetsch said, only half-joking. "But I was pretty happy. I played pretty good. With Ahmed, we've lost only one doubles during the whole season so I'm pretty happy all around."
Barry picked up its first point when
Franco Echenique and
Renato Lombardi cruised to an 8-0 win over Nicholas Battistini and Fernando Arroyo at No. 3 doubles.
Fabian Pronnet clinched the victory for the Bucs, beating Arroyo, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 6 singles. No. 29-ranked
Nico Dreer was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Battistini at No. 4. Haider beat Heimberger, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 3. Third-ranked Triki won a championship-caliber match with No. 28-ranked Uryson, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, at the No. 1 flight.
The shutout is Barry's 10th this season. As for the perfect record ...
"When you go through the regular season, if you were to lose, it's not the end of the season," Samuel said. "But now that we've done it, what does it mean? It's huge for us. When you look back in retrospect and it's done, it's a great feeling. To be honest with you, it went by like lightning to me. It went by very, very fast. We've made a lot of changes, and the guys are playing with a lot of confidence. They're really looking forward to this conference tournament coming up."
Barry will play in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament next week at Saint Leo.
For now, it was a day to reflect and celebrate a little. Sielmann relishes his time at Buccaneer Tennis Center throughout his college career, and admitted he experienced slight emotions on the courts.
"Yeah, a little bit," he said. "Knowing it can be the last one, I played four years here. They were amazing experiences. But I think we're going to play regionals here, too. That's why it was not that emotional.
"We're really looking forward to conference. We have really good chances to win. We just have to keep working hard."
