So the No. 2 Pirates had to wait six hours - between multiple lightning and rain delays as well as a lengthy match in front of them - to take the court in the NCAA's Round of 16 on Tuesday evening. The Pirates took a 2-1 lead over a game NYIT squad who was clearly out to erase the sting of last year's elimination in the first round at the NCAA Championships.
Armstrong won the first set in five of six singles matches, but after Pablo Gor's quick 6-0, 6-1 win made the score 3-1, the Bears won a key first-set tiebreaker and two second sets to extend the match deep into the Tuesday night. Jaan Kononov overcame a first-set deficit to notch the Pirates' second singles win, then Luca Cerin finished things off by rebounding from his second-set deficit to claim a quick 6-3 third-set win to send Armstrong into the semifinals.
So the match ended at around 10:45, making something you and I take for granted - dinner - a difficult task. Obviously the Pirates didn't want to eat dinner -before- playing a three-and-a-half hour match, but as the match wore on, restaurants in and around Altamonte Springs closed up their kitchens on for them is a normally dull Tuesday night. Thanks to some late takeout from Outback, however, the Pirates were able to get fed and will head back to the hotel for some much-needed rest before tomorrow's battle against either Northwood (Mich.) or Northwest Missouri State - who as of the time of this blog post are still battling in their Round of 16 match.
Good night Pirate fans and we will talk to you tomorrow from Sanlando Park !
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