Florida State Eliminates Duke From ACC Tournament

Friday, April 17

Cary, N.C.

9 a.m.

Duke University

Florida State (Quarterfinals)

Florida State Eliminates Duke From ACC Tournament

4/17/2009 1:15:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

CARY, N.C. ? The Blue Devils faced Florida State for the third time this season and for the third time came away with a loss as the No. 4 seed Seminoles eliminated fifth-seeded Duke from the ACC Tournament with a 4-1 victory.

“It was a tough way to end the ACC Tournament,” said head coach Ramsey Smith. “We give a lot of credit to Florida State who played a great match. The difference seemed to be the doubles point in the way it set the momentum. They got the doubles point and came into the singles with a lot of confidence after beating us a couple of times earlier in the year. We were a little bit careful in the first sets. We competed great at the end and were close to giving ourselves a chance to come back.”

Florida State came out strong with wins in the top two doubles contests to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Duke did receive a doubles victory from Reid Carleton and Jared Pinsky at the No. 3 position. The duo downed Clint Bowles and Chris Cloer, 8-4, to improve to 2-3 as a team.

The Seminoles carried momentum into singles, winning five first sets to take control. They took a 2-0 lead when Cloer won in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 over Duke freshman Luke Marchese. The loss drops Marchese to 17-6 on the year and was just his third dual match loss.

Duke battled back to cut the lead in half when No. 53 Kiril Dimitrov won 6-3, 6-3 against No. 51 Clint Bowles. Dimitrov, a 2009 All-ACC honoree, has a team-high 25 victories in singles action. He recorded his 12th win over a ranked opponent on Friday.

The Blue Devils were battling back in the second set at No. 1 and No. 4 but in a span of two minutes the match ended as Maciek Sykut defeated Dylan Arnould at No. 3 by a 6-3, 6-4 score and Drew Bailey edged Alain Michel in a second set tiebreaker for a 6-2, 7-6 (2) final.

Duke falls to 15-8 on the year and will await the NCAA selection show to see if their season will continue. Florida State improves to 19-7 and advances to the ACC Tournament semifinals.

Tennis Match Results
Duke vs Florida State
Aprl 17, 2009 at Cary, N.C.

#16 Florida State 4, #26 Duke 1

Doubles
1. #20 Jean-Yves Aubone/Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU) def. #66 Dimitrov/Michel (DU) 8-5
2. Maciek Sykut/Drew Bailey (FSU) def. #81 Dylan Arnould/David Holland (DU) 8-6
3. Reid Carleton/Jared Pinsky (DU) def. Clint Bowles/Chris Cloer (FSU) 8-4

Singles
1. #16 Jean-Yves Aubone (FSU) vs. #40 Reid Carleton (DU) unfinished
2. #53 Kiril Dimitrov (DU) def. #51 Clint Bowles (FSU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Maciek Sykut (FSU) def. Dylan Arnould (DU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU) vs. Jared Pinsky (DU) unfinished
5. Drew Bailey (FSU) def. Alain Michel (DU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
6. Chris Cloer (FSU) def. Luke Marchese (DU) 6-3, 6-1