MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Barry opened the 2014 season with an 8-1 win against Florida Tech on Tuesday at Buccaneer Tennis Center.
Ranked No. 1, the defending national champs took care of business in the Sunshine State Conference opener, beating the No. 43-ranked Panthers in consecutive sets in five of the six singles matches. Barry swept the doubles matches, fighting off a few challenges from the improved Panthers' squad.
At No. 1 doubles, the Buccaneers No. 14-ranked pair of Fabian Groetsch and Ahmed Triki defeated Patrick Hernandez and Wade Ball 8-4. Leo Vivas and Renato Lombardi were 8-3 winners against Matic Leskovar and Beau Fieldsend 8-3 in the No. 2 flight. Kevin Sielmann and Nico Dreer beat Daniel Armellino and Jose Martinez 8-4 at No. 3.
Ranked No. 41 in the country, Sielmann defeated Ball 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4 singles. Lombardi cruised past Fieldsend 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3. Barry's Eduardo Alfonzo rolled past Martinez 6-0, 6-1, at No. 6.
Hernandez gutted out a 6-7, 7-6, 10-8 win against the 37th-ranked Vivas at No. 1 singles.
A freshman, Dreer won his first singles match as a Buccaneer in a dual match, beating Leskovar 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 singles. Franco Echenique, who sat out last year, also collected his first dual match singles victory with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Armellino at No. 5.
