Saturday, February 16, 2008

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (February 16, 2008) - The ETSU men's tennis team lost a heartbreaker to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Saturday, 4-2. The Bucs fall to 5-3 overall while the Demon Deacons improve to 4-2 on the season.

The Bucs took the early 1-0 advantage as Daniel Isaza (Medellin, Colombia) and Lisandro Picardo (Mar del Plata, Argentina) defeated No. 45 Charles Sartor and Andrew Brasseaux, 8-5 in the No. 3 position while Alex Ahlgren (Tyreso, Sweden) and Oscar Posada (Valencia, Venezuela) defeated Mariusz Adamski and Carlos Salmon, 9-8(2) in the top position. In the second slot, No. 33 Sebastian Serrano (Cartagena, Colombia) and Enrique Olivares (Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) fell to No. 21 Steve Forman and Cory Parr, 8-6.

In singles Wake Forest evened the match at 1-1 when No. 64 Cory Parr defeated No. 49 Olivares, 7-6(5), 6-1 in the No. 1 slot. The Demon Deacons then took the 3-1 advantage as Mariusz Adamski defeated Predrag Burmazovic (Belgrade, Serbia) in the third position, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 while Serrano fell to No. 91 Steve Forman, 7-6, 6-7, 6-2 in the No. 2 position.

The Bucs would bring the match to 3-2 as Lisandro Picardo dropped Jonathon Wolff in the No. 4 position, 6-7, 7-5, 6-0 but Wake Forest clinched the match in the No. 6 position when Ian Atkinson defeated Daniel Isaza, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. The match between Oscar Posada and Jason Morganstern in the fifth position was suspended since the match was already decided.

"It's kind of tough. The guys are playing amazing right now and we're hanging in there with these Top 20 teams and we're coming so close to beating them. It's just heartbreak city right now," said head coach Yaser Zaatini. "The guys are disappointed and hopefully one day we'll win one of these matches and won't be the lovable losers. I think this team is about to do some great things and I just hope that the team can keep their morale up."

The Bucs will be back in action on February 24 as they travel to Rock Hill, S.C. to take on the Winthrop Eagles. The match is set to begin at 11:00 a.m.

For all ETSU men's tennis action visit www.ETSUBucs.com.