University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
South Florida
Gophers Lose to No. 13 South Florida
2/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The No. 23 University of Minnesota Gophers fell to No. 13 South Florida 7-0 at the Baseline Tennis Center.
USF came in after winning two big matches at the ITA Kick-Off. The Gophers kept many matches tight but fell just short of grabbing any wins on the evening.
"We were really looking forward to this match. We knew it was against a tough team and that gives us the best opportunity to learn," head coach Geoff Young said. "We want to try and take something from tonight so we can be a little better for Wisconsin."
USF took the doubles point after a few tough matches. Matic Spec and Jesse Sprinkel fell in the No. 3 spot 6-2. The No. 1 and 2 doubles proved to be close matches, but the No. 1 pair of Justin Roberts and Dominic Cotrone secured the doubles point for USF, winning 6-4 against Marino Alpeza and Ruben Weber. Josip Krstanovic and Justyn Levin were up 6-5, but their match against Vadym Kalyuchnyy and Sasha Gozun went unfinished.
In singles play Alpeza and Weber both fell (6-2, 6-4) at the No. 5 and No. 2 spots. USF sealed the victory with Bertran topping Jeremy Lynn (7-5, 6-3).
In the No. 1, 3 and 4 spots the Gophers were able to get set victories. Spec battled No. 17 Roberto Cid and came out of the gate strong winning 6-1 in the first set. Cid came back in the second to win 6-3 and pulled out a 6-2 third set win.
Krstanovic found himself in a back and forth match with Kalyuzhnyy dropping the first set 6-4 before bouncing back to win the second 7-5. They played a tiebreak set that also saw the two players trade points back and forth but Krstanonvic ultimately fell 10-8 to lose the match.
The evenings final match left on the court came between Levin and Gozun. Gozun took Levin 6-3 in the first but Levin looked strong in the second pulling out a 6-4 second set victory. Levin looked like he was going to come out on top as he quickly took a lead and was putting on a gap in the third set but Gozun stormed back to win 6-4.
The Gophers have their first Big Ten match of the season at 4 p.m. Sunday taking on Wisconsin at the Baseline Tennis Center.
No. 13 South Florida 7, No. 23 Minnesota 0
Singles competition
1. Roberto Cid (USF) def. Matic Spec (MINN) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. Dominic Cotrone (USF) def. #95 Ruben Weber (MINN) 6-2, 6-4
3. Sasha Gozun (USF) def. Justyn Levin (MINN) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
4. Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (USF) def. Josip Krstanovic (MINN) 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8)
5. Peter Bertran (USF) def. Marino Alpeza (MINN) 6-2, 6-4
6. Ignacio Gonzalez Mun (USF) def. Jeremy Lynn (MINN) 7-5, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Justin Roberts/Dominic Cotrone (USF) def. Marino Alpeza/Ruben Weber (MINN) 6-4
2. Justyn Levin/Josip Krstanovic (MINN) vs. Vadym Kalyuzhnyy/Sasha Gozun (USF) 5-6, unfinished
3. Ignacio Gonzalez Mun/Roberto Cid (USF) def. Matic Spec/Jesse Sprinkel (MINN) 6-2
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1) Singles (5,2,6,1,4,3)
Players Mentioned
