Friday, March 28, 2003

DAVIDSON, N.C. (March 28, 2003) - For the fifth straight year, East Tennessee State downed Davidson in men's tennis as the visiting Bucs held off the Wildcats, 5-2, Friday afternoon on Covington Courts. The victory pushes ETSU's record to 7-6 overall and 2-1 in the SoCon while Davidson falls to 9-6 and 2-2. Davidson opened play by taking the doubles point for an early 1-0 lead. Junior Rob Haywood and sophomore Donald Miles combined for an 8-5 win at number one doubles while juniors Jonathan Britt and Rob Gould cruised to an 8-3 triumph at the number two spot. However, the Bucs responded by winning the top five singles matches to clinch the victory. ETSU's Fernando Fiuri (Villa Maria, Argentina) sealed the team win by taking the last three games in the number four singles match for a 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 win over Britt. Davidson's lone singles point came from sophomore Russ Burns at number six singles. After splitting sets with Francisco Diaz (Weston, Fla.), Burns pulled out the super tie-breaker, 10-8, for his seventh consecutive singles victory. ETSU next tackles UNC Greensboro in Greensboro, N.C., tomorrow at 1 p.m. Davidson follows suit and hosts UNCG this Sunday, March 30, at 1 p.m. as well. East Tennessee State 5, Davidson 2 Singles #1 - Marcos Pavlovich (ETSU) d. Rob Haywood (DAV) 6-4, 7-5 #2 - Alejandro Salazar (ETSU) d. Donald Miles (DAV) 6-4, 6-4    #3 - Diego Iglesias (ETSU) d. Bryan Stonestreet (DAV) 6-1, 6-4  #4 - Fernando Fiuri (ETSU) d. Jonathan Britt (DAV) 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 #5 - Moises Serrano (ETSU) d. Geoffrey Mullen (DAV) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4       #6 - Russ Burns (DAV) d. Francisco Diaz (ETSU) 7-6 (7), 5-7, (10-8)         Doubles #1 - Haywood/Miles (DAV) d. Pavlovich/Salazar (ETSU) 8-5 #2 - Britt/Gould (DAV) d. Iglesias/Serrano (ETSU) 8-3   #3 - Fiuri/Ochoa (ETSU) d. Mullen/Stonestreet (DAV) 8-5