Saturday, February 25, 2006

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Feb. 25, 2006) - In what head coach Yaser Zaatini called the biggest victory in the history of ETSU's men's tennis program, the Buccaneers defeated No. 50 San Diego State, 4-3 at the Aztec Tennis Center. The Bucs are now 7-5 on the season while the Aztecs fall to 3-3.

Action began with the Buccaneers claiming the doubles point with wins coming from the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. At the No. 1 doubles position, junior Oscar Posada (Valencia, Venezuela) and freshman Juan Crosa (Asuncion, Paraguay) defeated Benedikt Stronk and Markus Dickhardt, 8-5. In No. 2 doubles, senior Felix Insaurralde (Asuncion, Paraguay) and junior Lisandro Picardo (Mar Del Plata, Argentina) were defeated by Christian Groh and Eugenio Romero, 8-7 (5) while in No. 3 doubles, freshman Enrique Olivares (Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) and sophomore Sebastian Serrano (Cartagena, Colombia) defeated Stephan Timu and Robert Sabo, 8-5.

The Bucs took a 2-0 lead when Sebastian Serrano defeated Robert Sabo, 6-3, 6-0 in the No. 6 position.  The Aztecs then battled back with Stephan Timu defeating Lisandro Picardo in the No. 5 position, 6-4, 6-3. Freshman Enrique Olivares then defeated Anthony Gomez, 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 4 position, while freshman Juan Crosa defeated Christian Groh, 6-4, 7-5 to clench the match. In the No. 1 position Oscar Posada was defeated by Benedikt Stronk while Felix Insaurralde was defeated by No. 99 Markus Dickhardt in the No. 2 singles slot.

"I think the team came together extremely well this week, they played well and we're getting the quality of tennis that I think these guys are capable of producing," said Zaatini.

The Buccaneers will play their final match in the Golden State tomorrow, Feb. 26 against University of Pacific at 10 a.m.

ETSU 4, SDSU 3

Singles
1) Benedikt Stronk (SDSU) def. Oscar Posada (ETSU), 6-7, 7-6, 6-2.

2) No. 99 Markus Dickhardt (SDSU) def. Felix Insaurralde (ETSU), 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

3) Juan Crosa (ETSU) def. Christian Groh (SDSU), 6-4, 7-5.

4) Enrique Olivares (ETSU) def. Anthony Gomez (SDSU), 6-2, 6-2.

5) Stephan Timu (SDSU) def. Lisandro Picardo (ETSU), 6-4, 6-3.

6) Sebastian Serrano (ETSU) def. Robert Sabo (SDSU), 6-3, 6-0.

Doubles
1) Posada/Crosa (ETSU) def.  Stronk/Dickhardt (SDSU), 8-5.

2) Groh/Romero (SDSU) def. Insaurralde/Picardo (ETSU), 8-7 (5).

3) Olivares/Serrano (ETSU) def. Timu/Sabo (SDSU), 8-5.