HONOLULU - The Hawai'i men's tennis team put up a solid effort, but in the end found itself on the wrong side of the net, falling 7-0 to No. 41 Florida State, Thursday afternoon, at the UH Tennis Complex. The loss dropped the Warriors to 1-3 on the season in dual-match play.
It was a slightly different version of the Warriors which took the court against the experienced Seminoles, as juniors Jarrod Diepraam and Ryan Sceats sat out the match due to injury and illness, respectively. However, Warrior head coach John Nelson was impressed by his team's positive attitude.
"I knew by starting the season with matches against quality opponents, like Florida State, our young guys would need to learn how to compete at that level. I'm impressed with our effort so far. It's a long season, and the experience now is a good way to build towards success down the road."
Florida State captured the doubles point, taking advantage of Hawai`i's need to rearrange their doubles pairings due to the losses of Diepraam and Sceats. Singles play proved no better for the Rainbow Warriors, as Florida State captured each match. Hawai`i once again had opportunities, but could not close the deal. Senior Dalibor Ptak came back from down 5-2 in the third set to give Florida State's Mat Cloer a scare, but it was not enough. Cloer, ranked No. 15 in the country, slammed the door on Ptak's comeback hopes, winning a hard fought third set, 6-4.
The Rainbow Warriors conclude its three-match homestand against No. 49 Oregon, Friday. Doubles matches begin at 3:00 p.m. at the UH Tennis Complex.
Match Results
Florida State vs. Hawai`i, 7-0
Singles (each match is worth one team point)
1. Mat Cloer (FSU) def. Dalibor Ptak, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
2. Ytai Abougzir (FSU) def. Bryon Weinberg, 6-2, 6-2
3. Jeff Groslimond (FSU) def. Chad Faulk, 6-3, 6-3
4. Chris Westerhof (FSU) def. Derrick Lajola, 6-0, 6-1
5. Sam Chang (FSU) def. Travis Smith, 6-0, 6-2
6. Chip Webb (FSU) def. Jamie Migia, 6-1, 6-0
Doubles (must win 2 of 3 matches for one team point)
1. Cloer/Abougzir (FSU) def. Ptak/Lajola, 8-1
2. Groslimond/Westerhof (FSU) def. Weinberg/Faulk, 8-4
3. Jonathas Sucupira/Webb (FSU) def. Smith/Yasuo Sakurai, 8-1
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