Saturday, January 16, 1999

Johnson City, Tenn. - A quick start in doubles led East Tennessee State to a 7-0 sweep of Murray State in men's tennis action at Memorial Center. The match was the kickoff event of the weeklong Snow Volleys Tournament.

The No. 2 Doubles team of Marcos Pavlovich and Juan Yannuzzi defeated Thigao Gondim and Alex Sundsten, 8-2. They were followed by the No. 3 doubles team of Ricardo Nava and Matt Keeter, who defeated Sabastian Venjar and Craig Mione 8-4 to secure the doubles point for ETSU.

"The key for us today was that we got off to a good start in doubles," said ETSU Coach Dave Mullins. "We got the doubles point and that gave us some momentum and then we won two quick matches in singles. Roberto Fernandez at No. 3, 6-0, 6-2 and Anthony Bugge won at No. 6, 6-2, 6-2. I think the confidence from those two matches spread to the other players. That led to sweeping the singles match which was good."

"Yesterday was a tough day at Tennessee. They are a very good team, ranked eighth in the country. Tennessee came out like gangbusters and really took it to us. Our confidence was down a bit today, but winning the doubles and getting off to a really good start in the singles gave us the momentum to carry us through," said Mullins.

ETSU returns to action on Feb. 4 when it hosts Louisville at 1:00 and UNC Asheville at 7:00. Both matches will be played in Memorial Center.

Singles
1. Gustavo Gomez (ETSU) def. Nikola Arcic (MSU) 6-2, 6-4
2. Marcos Pavlovich (ETSU) def. Tony Hardman (MSU) 6-7, 7-5, 7-6
3. Roberto Fernandez (ETSU) def. Thigao Gondim (MSU) 6-0, 6-2
4. Juan Yannuzzi (ETSU) def. Sabastian Venjar (MSU) 6-3, 7-5
5. Ricardo Nava (ETSU) def. Alex Sundsten (MSU) 7-6, 6-1
6. Anthony Bugge (ETSU) def. Craig Mione (MSU) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles
1. Arcic/Hardman (MSU) def. Gomez/Fernandez (ETSU) 8-6
2. Pavlovich/Yannuzzi (ETSU) def. Gondim/Sundsten (MSU) 8-2
3. Nava/Matt Keeter (ETSU) def. Venjar/Mione (MSU) 8-4