Saturday, March 22, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 22, 2008) - In a rematch of last year's Atlantic Sun title match the 46th-ranked ETSU Bucs defeated the 59th-ranked Stetson Hatters, 6-1 on Saturday afternoon. Tiwh the victory the Bucs improve to 15-3 overall and 5-0 in conference action and claim sole possession of first place while the Hatters fall to 14-4, 5-1.

The Bucs claimed the doubles point and earned a 1-0 advantage as Enrique Olivares (Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) and Sebastian Serrano (Cartagena, Colombia)  defeated Hicham Laalej and Joey Jones in the No. 2 position, 8-4 while Daniel Isaza (Medellin, Colombia) and Lisandro Picardo (Mar del Plata, Argentina) cruised past Serguei Boulanov and Gokay Celik, 8-3 in the third position. The duo of Alex Ahlgren (Tyreso, Sweden) and Oscara Posada (Valencia, Venezuela) fell in the top position, 9-8 to Marcus Echtler and Filip Kricka.

The Bucs kept the momentum going as Daniel Isaza breezed by Gokay Celik, 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 6 slot, while 95th-ranked Lisandro Picardo kept his perfect dual record intact defeating Filip Kricka, 6-1, 0-6, 6-2 in the No. 4 slot. The match was clinched at 4-0 when Predrag Burmazovic (Belgrade, Serbia) dropped Joey Jones, 6-4, 6-0 in the No. 3 slot. Posada and Olivares rounded out the final points for the Bucs in the 5 and 1 slots respectively. Posada defeated Serguei Boulanov, 6-3, 6-3 while 67th-ranked Olivares defeated Marcus Echtler, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6.

The Hatters earned their lone point as Hicham Laalej defeated Sebastian Serrano in a match that was defaulted.

The Bucs will be back in action on Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29 as they travel to Jacksonville, Fla. to take on Jacksonville and North Florida. The match against Jacksonville is set to begin at 10 a.m. For all ETSU men's tennis action visit www.ETSUBucs.com.

#46 ETSU 6, STET 1 

Singles

No. 1- #67 Enrique Olivares (ETSU) def. Marcus Echtler (STET) 7-5, 3-6, 7-6

No. 2- Hicham Laalej (STET) def. Sebastian Serrano (ETSU) default

No. 3- Predrag Burmazovic (ETSU) def. Joey Jones (STET) 6-4, 6-0

No. 4- #95 Lisandro Picardo (ETSU) def. Filip Kricka (STET) 6-1, 0-6, 6-2

No. 5- Oscar Posada (ETSU) def. Serguei Boulanov (STET) 6-3, 6-3

No. 6- Daniel Isaza (ETSU) def. Gokay Celik (STET) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles

No. 1- Echtler/Kricka (STET) def. Ahlgren/Posada (ETSU) 9-8

No. 2- Olivares/Serrano (ETSU) def. Jones/Laalej (STET) 8-4

No. 3- Isaza/Picardo (ETSU) def. Boulanov/Celik STET) 8-3