March 25, 2005

Winston-Salem, N.C. - An epic rally by the 25th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team fell just short as 27th-ranked Florida State captured a narrow 4-3 victory on Friday evening at Leighton Tennis Stadium.

The Deacons (11-3, 3-1 ACC) dug themselves into a deep 3-0 hole, before climbing all the way out to catch the Seminoles (11-5, 2-1 ACC). After losing the doubles point and singles matches at No. 1 and No. 5, Brett Ross and Andrew Hamar also trailed by a set at No. 3 and No. 4 singles.

Wake Forest was down, but certainly not out.

Todd Paul got the Deacons rolling with a 7-5, 6-3 victory at No. 2 singles. Then, Ross and Hamar got hot. Ross, who dropped the first set 6-1, rallied to win 7-5 in the second set then coasted in the third set, 6-1. Ross has won nine of his last 12 singles matches.

On court four, Hamar, who lost his first set 6-2, turned the tables in the second set winning 6-2. In the third set, Hamar had a chance to serve out the set at 5-3, but had his serve broken. But the sophomore from South Wales wasted no time in clinching the match, breaking serve to win the third set 6-4. Hamar owns a dual match record of 11-2.

Those victories tied the match at three and turned all the attention to No. 6 singles where Liron Strauss, an emergency replacement for the injured Joe Bates, faced Florida State senior Chip Webb. Strauss dropped the first set 6-3 but led 5-3 in the second. But he couldn't hold on and force a third set, losing 7-5.

"Our fight today was very good," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "Down 3-0, we were able to come back. Unfortunately, it just didn't go our way. The script was right for one of those Hallmark movies, but unfortunately, it didn't happen."

Wake Forest dropped its first Atlantic Coast Conference match of the year. The Deacons have lost two straight matches for the first time this season.

Wake Forest will have an opportunity to rebound on Sunday afternoon at home against third-ranked Virginia. The match is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.

#27 Florida State 4, #25 Wake Forest 3
#1 -    #26 Mat Cloer (FSU) def. Derrick Spice (WF)       6-3, 6-2
#2 -    #82 Todd Paul (WF) def. Ytai Abougzir (FSU)       7-5, 6-3
#3 -    Brett Ross (WF) def. Jeff Groslimond (FSU)        1-6, 7-5, 6-1
#4 -    #79 Andrew Hamar (WF) def. Chris Westerhof (FSU)  2-6, 6-2, 6-4
#5 -    Sam Chang (FSU) def. Marius Adamski (WF)          6-4, 6-4
#6 -    Chip Webb (FSU) def. Liron Strauss (WF)           6-3, 7-5
#1 -    Groslimond/Westerhof (FSU) def. Ross/Hamar (WF)   8-6
#2 -    Cloer/Abougzir (FSU) def. Adamski/Spice (WF)      8-5
#3 -    Joe Bates/Paul (WF) def. Chang/Webb (FSU)         8-3
WF: (11-3, 3-1 ACC)
FSU:  (11-5, 2-1 ACC)