March 30, 2008
Final Stats
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The No. 63 Maryland men's tennis team fell, 7-0, to No. 40 Duke at the Tennis Center at College Park Sunday afternoon.
The Terps (9-7, 1-6) were shut-out for just the third time this season as they came out on the losing end of a number of extremely close matches. Duke (7-9, 4-2) won both three-set matches, and all four tie-breakers.
Terrapins Amit Inbar, Boris Fetbroyt, Nickolai Nielsen and Michael Coleman all fell in set-deciding tie-breakers.
Nielsen and Coleman teamed up at No. 3 doubles to earn the only win of the day for the Terps. The pair never trailed as they defeated Dylan Arnould and Alex Stone, 8-5.
Inbar played a brilliant match at No. 1 singles, but was edged out by Duke's David Goulet, the No. 51-ranked singles player. Inbar, the No. 68-ranked singles player, split the first two sets with the Blue Devil senior, to force a deciding third set.
In the third set, each player refused to lose ground on their own service game, trading game-winners back and forth. When Inbar held serve to draw even at 6-6 and force a tie-break, it marked the sixth tie of the set, after scoring began.
Inbar fell behind early in the tie-break, but hit a beautiful passing shot winner to break into the scoring column and make the score 1-3. The players traded points to a score of 3-6, when Inbar came alive with his back against the wall to close within one point, 5-6.
With a one point lead, Goulet had a chance to win the match on serve, and took advantage of his opportunity as he came up with a huge ace to win the match, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).
At the same time Inbar was battling Goulet, Nielsen was in a back and forth struggle of his own. Playing at No. 4 singles, Nielsen faced-off with Arnould once again, in a match that was all about streaks.
Nielsen fell behind early, trailing 1-4, before winning five of the next six games to lead 6-5. After Arnould held serve to draw even at 6-6, Nielsen got off to a slow start in the tie-break, falling behind 0-3. The foes traded scoring streak to 6-6, when Arnould won consecutive points to take the set.
Nielsen fell behind 2-3 to start the second set, but rallied to take a 4-3 lead and win the set. Arnould answered with a long streak of his own to take a 5-0 third set lead on his way to a match win, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-1.
The Terps will be back in a action seeking their tenth win of the season next weekend when they go on their last road trip of the regular season to face No. 54 Clemson Saturday and No. 49 Georgia Tech Sunday.
