Teraz Sweep Not Enough in 4-1 CSU Loss

Grega Teraz capped a strong freshman campaign by winning both matches in which he participated in on Thursday, but his efforts fell short of guiding the Bucs to victory, as the men’s tennis team’s season ended with a 4-1 loss to host Winthrop at the 2008 Big South Championships.

Teraz’s afternoon began by teaming with senior Guy David in winning the doubles point at doubles flight number one.  The duo, fresh off earning Doubles All-Conference honors on Wednesday, defeated Winthrop’s Vinicius Bortolatto and Arthur Takahashi by an 8-5 scoreline to bring their season record as a tandem to 17-4.  The win was also the thirteenth consecutive win on the season for CSU’s number one doubles pair.

The win would be the only win CSU would post in doubles play, however, as Winthrop was victorious at both flights number two and three, allowing the Eagles to capture the doubles point.

Teraz, a member of the Singles All-Conference team, also continued a lengthy winning streak in singles play with a win on Thursday.  The Slovenia native’s dusting off of Alejandra Portugal 6-2, 6-0 at number three ran Teraz’s season record in singles to 16-5 and provided him with his seventh consecutive victory in singles play.

CSU would battle in the other matches, especially at flights four and five, where Chris Peek fought Takahashi into the fourth set (2-6, 6-4, 4-4) and Murat Atilla lead his opponent 7-6, 4-2 in the second set.  However, neither match would be completed as Winthrop won the other three singles matches at one, two and six to post the four points necessary to ensure victory, and to eliminate the Buccaneers.

Though the loss will sting in the short term, the Bucs, who finished the season 12-9, will be justifiably proud of their long term accomplishments in the 2008 season.