Friday, October 21, 2011

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (October 21, 2011) – Senior Sander Gille (Kuringen, Belgium) won two matches on Friday at the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships to advance to Saturday’s round of 16 as the only ETSU men’s tennis student-athlete remaining in the singles main draw.

Gille defeated Lipscomb’s Daniel Hernandez 6-2, 6-0 before taking out [9-16] Albert Wagner of Louisville 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 to earn his spot in the tournament’s final 16.

Seniors Robin Akser (Ornskoldsvik, Sweden) and Jeremy Bonnevalle (Keerbergen, Belgium) also began Friday in the main draw’s second round, but each bowed out in straight sets. Akser went up against [9-16] Jeremy Langer of Indiana, falling 7-5, 6-4, and Bonnevalle was defeated by Memphis’ David O’Hare 6-2, 6-2.

Six Buccaneers began play in the singles consolation draw, with Juan Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay) and Rogerio Ribeiro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) advancing through to the second round. Ribeiro proceeded with a bye after Murray State’s Jose Berado waived the match.

Gille begins play in Saturday’s round of 16 against Chattanooga’s Josh MacTaggart, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, at 1:30 p.m.

For more information on ETSU tennis, please visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the tennis links.