Friday, September 30, 2011

Bucs conclude day one in Chattanooga

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (September 30, 2011) – Roger Ordeig (Gurb, Spain) and Rogerio Ribeiro each won two matches on Friday at the UTC Steve Baras Fall Classic, advancing to the semifinals of their respective flights.

Ordeig advanced in the blue flight, and will meet with Memphis’ Cedric De Zutter at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Ribeiro had success in the gold draw, and now awaits Kennesaw State’s Alex Toliver in his semifinal, also starting at 11:30 a.m.

In his opening round match, Ordeig took down a fellow conference foe from KSU, Simon Janik (6-2, 6-3) to meet with the host’s Roberto Viera in the afternoon session. Viera snuck by Jacksonville’s Nenad Marcec (4-6, 6-4, 1-0(6)) for the right to meet with Ordeig, but Ordeig was too much for Viera in a (7-6 (8), 6-2) victory.

Junior Juan Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay) was slated as the blue flight’s No. 2 seed, but was upset by Belmont’s Rodrigo Armaral after winning a convincing first set (1-6, 7-5, 1-0 (8)). Ramirez will now play his way through the consolation draw, starting with Memphis’ David Henry, on Saturday.

Ribeiro started Friday as the gold flight’s top seed, and backed his ranking. Receiving a first round bye, Ribeiro defeated Chattanooga’s Manuel Barroetavena (6-4, 6-4) in the afternoon session. Barraetavena had a struggle in his first round, edging Belmont’s Fernando Mussolini (6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (5)) before falling to Ribeiro.

Sophomore Jorge Varon (Valencia, Venezuela) competed in the same flight as Ribeiro, receiving the No. 2 seed and also advancing on a first round bye. Varon’s second round match started well, but ended in defeat as KSU’s Alex Pena took out the sophomore (6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (9)). Varon will begin his consolation play on Saturday against Pena’s first round victim, Richard Gamble.

Ordeig continued his success with Ramirez in the gold doubles flight, defeating KSU’s Pena and Spencer (8-4) to advance to Saturday’s semifinals. Ribeiro followed suit, teaming up with Varon to defeat Belmont’s Armaral and Matos (9-8 (2)) and advancing to the blue doubles semifinals.

The Buccaneers pick up the action early on Saturday, when their two doubles teams hit the courts at 8:30 a.m.

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