Final court decides in-state showdown in 4-3 setback at Miami
TAMPA (February 8, 2024) – The University of South Florida (3-3) and the University of Miami (6-1) battled until the final courts in both doubles and singles play on Thursday afternoon before the home Hurricanes walked away with a narrow 4-3 victory over the Bulls in Coral Gables.
The doubles point went to Miami in the last court standing via tiebreaker, and after the Bulls battled back in singles action to tie the match at 3-3, the Hurricanes pulled out the final singles court as well for the win.
“I thought our team took a step forward today, even though we didn’t get the result. We did a lot of things well and a lot of things much better than last weekend,” said head coach Ashley Fisher. “I was impressed with our doubles team across the board today. We continue to get stellar performances from Alvin and Bruno. Overall, we’re right there, playing with a very tough team on their home court. These are the sort of matches that will help us get to the level we need to be at and win a conference championship.”
Bruno Oliveira and Ben Hudson were 6-4 winners on Doubles Court 3 while No. 17 Alvin Tudorica and Erik Grevelius dropped a 6-3 decision on Court 1 to the No. 30-ranked duo in the country.
Tom Pavlekovich-Smith and Agustin Cuellar suffered a 7-6 (7-5) loss on Court 2 to decide the doubles point.
In singles play, No. 35 Tudorica battled back in his opening set for a 7-5 win and proceeded to win the match with a 6-0 decision in set two. Oliveira was a 6-3, 6-1 winner on Court 3 and Elijah Cham took Court 6 by scores of 7-5, 6-2. The deciding match on Court 2 also had a tiebreaker set with Grevelius ultimately falling, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 0-6.
Tudorica improved to 5-1 in singles play this season while Oliveira moved to 4-1. Oliveira and Hudson are 2-0 as a doubles team.
Up Next
The Bulls return to Tampa to open a six-match homestand beginning on Saturday, February 10 in a doubleheader against Georgia Southern (10 a.m.) and FGCU (2:30 p.m.).
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Head coach Ashley Fisher is in his ninth year at the helm of the program for the 2022-23 season. Fischer has guided the Bulls to four NCAA Tournaments, including three trips to the second round. He was named the American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2017 & 2019 after leading USF to the conference title in each of those seasons.
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