Miami Men's Tennis defeats USF, 4-3

CORAL GABLES, Fla. –The No. 34 University of Miami men’s tennis team captured their fourth match in a row, beating in-state rival South Florida, 4-3 on Sunday in Tampa.

The Hurricanes (7-3), lost the doubles point, but rebounded with a strong singles opponent for a big win.

Eduardo Pavia got Miami on the board at No. 5 singles, beating USF’s Yannick Yoshizawa, 6-4, 6-1.

In No. 6 singles, Gabriel Flores defeated USF’s Juan Carlos Acuna Gerard, 6-4, 6-4 and the Hurricanes never trailed again.

Keith Crowley put the Hurricanes up 3-1 with a win over Romain Derrider, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.

“Mario, Cj and Laurence made it clear to us throughout this week what had to be done this weekend. We all fought hard and simply took care of business. We still have a lot of room for improvement individually and as a team which is great. I’m looking forward to another week of practice,” Crowley said.

After USF cut Miami’s lead to 3-2, all eyes were on courts one and two. It was senior Christian Blocker, who was playing in the No. 1 position for the first time this spring who clinched the victory for the Hurricanes, defeating Lucas Jovita, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

“We played really tough on every single court today and the hard work with our fitness coach Andrew Klich is paying off at this point of our season. We are growing as a team and we are getting mentally and physically stronger.Mario, CJ and Laurence are coaching us well during the matches and we will keep working for our goal this season,” Blocker said.

Miami now heads back into ACC action, with plenty of confidence after three straight wins on the road, and will now get to spend some time back on their home court with a five-match homestand featuring four ACC opponents.

“We beat a quality opponent and it was a battle. Our guys are great fighters and CJ, Laurence and I are very proud of them,” head coach Mario Rincon said.”

The Hurricanes will next take on No. 17 Georgia Tech next Sunday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.