Friday, September 20, 2002

Johnson City, Tenn. (September 20, 2002) - East Tennessee State University's men's and women's tennis programs are hosting to the 12th Annual ETSU Fall Collegiate Classic, which began Friday morning at the ETSU Tennis Complex. The men scored big victories Moises Serrano (Bucaramanga, Colombia), Francisco Diaz (Weston, Fla.) and Federico Ochoa (Manizales, Colombia). All three players shutout their second and final opponents on Friday in two sets (6-0, 6-0) and now find themselves in contention for the tournament title in their respective brackets. Serrano and Diaz will play for the championship in the men's "B" singles, while Ochoa is sitting in good position in the "C" bracket. Diaz and Ochoa also paired for some doubles competition, blanking their opponents from Carson-Newman, 8-0. On the women's side, Buccaneer freshman Sylwia Ziolkowska (Warsaw, Poland) won her first singles match in two sets, 6-2 and 6-1 to waltz into the semifinals of the "A" division. Ziolkowska will play Ana Maria Cibels of Tennessee Tech at 9:30 a.m. to determine who goes to the finals on Saturday afternoon. In the "B" bracket, head coach Steve Brooks advanced two players to the semifinals as Amy Villavicencio (Lexington, Ky.) and Jewel Aldea (Summerville, S.C.) had a strong first two rounds on Friday evening. "Overall, the tournament went very well today," said men's head coach Dave Mullins. "There were roughly 90 matches played, and I think everyone is getting what they wanted out of the tournament." The tournament will conclude on Saturday evening. Back draws will begin at 8:00 a.m. with the main draws scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.