Sunday, January 28, 2001

Johnson City, Tenn. -- The East Tennessee State men's tennis team dropped its second-straight match to start the season with a hard-fought 4-3 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Bucs had their chances to take the victory in the singles round with Marcos Pavlovich, Juan Yannuzzi, and Pablo Sahagun each defeating their opponents.

The doubles matches saw the Bucs also have their chances to secure the win. Pavovich and Yannuzzi handled their doubles opponents, but it was not enough as the Bucs fell to 0-2 on the season.

"Our guys played their hearts out tonight," said head coach Dave Mullins. "We know we had our chances to win it. This is a very disappointing loss but I think if we play like we are capable of playing that this loss will help us tremendously later on in the season."

The Bucs will next travel to Knoxville, Tenn. February 10-11, to take part in the O'Charley's Classic hosted by the University of Tennessee. Singles 1. Edo Bowano def. Gustavo Gomez 6-3, 6-2 2. Marcos Pavlovich def. Gustav Pousette 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 3.. Matt Emery def. Roberto Fernandez 4-6, 7-6, 7-5 4. Juan Yannuzzi def. Reven Stephens 6-4, 6-4 5. Pablo Sahagun def. Rahim Esmail 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 6. Karim Benmansour def. Antonio Bugge 6-2, 6-0 Doubles 1. Benmansour/Grunditz def. Gomez/Fernandez 8-6 2. Pavlovich/Yannuzzi def. Bowano/Stephens 8-3 3. Emery/Esmail def. Sahagun/Diaz 8-4