Sunday, September 25, 2011

Men’s Tennis wraps up weekend of fall tournaments

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (September 25, 2011) – Senior Sander Gille (Kuringen, Belgium) went all the way through the orange flight consolation bracket to win the draw’s consolation title on Sunday at the UVA Ranked + 1 Invitational.

After falling to Virginia Tech’s Luka Somen, the second seeded played in the bracket, Gille went on to defeat North Carolina’s William Parker (6-1, 7-5) to advance to the draw’s semifinal play. In that round Gille met George Washington’s Ugar Atalay, and defeated him (6-1, 6-4) to reach the final of the orange flight’s consolation draw.

The final would never be played, as Maryland’s Sergio Wyss bowed out due to an injury, and Gille took home the title.

Also competing in the orange flight was ETSU junior Jesus Bandres (Caracas, Venezuela). Seeded fourth in the draw, Bandres defeated Wyss (6-4, 6-2) in the opening round to force a second round match against the bracket’s fifth-seeded competitor in N.C. State’s Dominic Hodgson. Bandres took care of Hodgson (6-3, 6-2) and found himself in the flight’s semifinals.

In the semis, Bandres ran into the flight’s top seeded competitor in Jarmere Jenkins out of the University of Virginia. Bandres played a tough first set, but eventually fell to the top seed (7-5, 6-3) to wind up in the bracket’s third place match.

The third place match saw Bandres meet with Somen, and the Hokie would take down another Buccaneer as Somen won (6-4, 6-3) to claim third place.

Sophomore Roger Ordeig (Gurb, Spain) competed in the blue flight, and won his first round match over Tech’s Corrado Tocci (7-6, 6-3) before falling in the second round to Virginia Commonwealth’s Max Wennakoski (6-4, 6-3)

Ordeig earned a spot in the seventh place match against fifth-seeded Stephen Hoh from Illinois, but was defeated (7-5, 6-2).

The Bucs top doubles team of Gille and Bandres also competed in the orange doubles flight. In the first round, Gille and Bandres defeated Wake Forest’s Kreyman and Lee (8-5). Their very next match, Bandres and Gille took on the flight’s top seed in Collins and Horny from Maryland. The Terps proved to be a little too much, defeating Gille and Bandres in a tight match (8-6).

Bandres and Gille earned third place in the orange doubles draw.

The ETSU men’s tennis team will compete in two tournaments next weekend, when they take on the competition at the UT Chattanooga Fall Invitational and ITA All-American. The Chattanooga Invite starts Friday, September 30, while the ITA All-American begins Saturday, October 1.

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