April 13, 2001

TALLAHASSEE, FL.–The Florida State men’s tennis team came ready to play this afternoon as they crushed Tallahassee rival Florida A&M, 7-0, in the last dual match before the ACC tournament. The 66th-ranked Seminoles improve to 10-12 on the season with the win, while the Rattlers fall to 8-14 overall.

Florida State played impressively in doubles, taking all three matches and thereby clinching the first point of the day. Though the Rattlers put up a good fight in the singles portion of the match, the Seminoles proved to be the stronger team, sweeping all six matches for a 7-0 final score.

Xavier Luscan led the way for the Noles at No. 1 with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Isaac Yarrell. Rodrigo Laub stepped up to play at the No. 2 position for the Seminoles for the first time in his career and had a near perfect performance against Lenin Mongerie, winning 6-0, 6-2.

Alex Herrera gave FSU another point with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Kareem Bennett at No. 4, while Jarrod Owen defeated FAMU’s Noel Wadawu at No. 6 by a score of 6-2, 6-3.

FSU’s Bartosz Koldej at the No. 5 position took the first set against John Richards, 6-3, and was trailing in the second set before winning it in a tie-breaker, 7-6.

The last match to finish was between Florida State’ Romain Jurd and FAMU’s Kamau Murray at No. 3. Jurd won the first set, 6-3, but dropped the second 5-7, before stepping it up and taking the third set, 6-1, to complete the sweep for the Seminoles.

The men will now prepare for the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament which will be held on April 19-22 at the Lake Cane Marsha Park and Tennis Center, part of Disney’s Wide World Of Sports, in Orlando Florida. More information on the tournament and the draw will be posted at a later time.

Box Score

Florida State 7

Florida A&M 0

Singles

1. Xavier Luscan (FSU) def. Isaac Yarrell (FAMU) 6-1, 6-4

2. Rodrigo Laub (FSU) def. Lenin Mongerie (FAMU) 6-0, 6-2

3. Romain Jurd (FSU) def. Kamau Murray (FAMU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-1

4. Alex Herrera (FSU) def. Kareem Bennett (FAMU) 6-4, 6-2

5. Bartosz Koldej (FSU) def. John Richards (FAMU) 6-3, 7-6

6. Jarrod Owen (FSU) def. Noel Wadawu (FAMU) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles

1. Luscan/Koldej (FSU) def. Yarrell/Murray (FAMU) 8-5

2. Herrera/Owen (FSU) def. Brandon Jones/Justin Jones (FAMU) 8-2

3. Gustav Bucht/Laub (FSU) def. Bennett/Wadawu (FAMU) 8-4

-FSU-