Friday, September 08, 2006

ATHENS, Ga. (September 9, 2006) - The ETSU men's tennis team advanced five of its nine players to the second round of the Southern Intercollegiate Championships Friday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Action continues Saturday with the second and third rounds of singles play and the second round of doubles play.

In Division I singles, senior Felix Insaurralde (Asuncion, Paraguay) was defeated by No. 66 Ivan Bjelica of Mississippi State, 6-1, 6-1 and sophomore Enrique Olivares (Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) was defeated by Kiril Dimitrov of Duke, 6-3, 6-3.

"We had a tough time in the top half today. Felix just ran into a train again Bjelica of Mississippi State, he is really great," said head coach Yaser Zaatini. "Enrique showed a lot of potential today against a very good player from Duke. "

Junior Lisandro Picardo (Mar del Plata, Argentina) defeated George Gvelesiani of Georgia Tech in a hard fought match, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 and freshman Daniel Isaza (Medellin, Colombia) defeated Hank Grant of Samford, 6-1, 6-3 in Division II singles.

"Lisandro fell in his first set and really played tough and fought hard to come away with his win against a tough opponent from Georgia Tech. He carried on the tradition of an upperclassman earning the win," said Zaatini. "It's also great to have Daniel, being only a freshman, to come away with a win."

Also in Division II singles, junior Sebastian Serrano (Cartagena, Colombia) lost a hard fought match to Aaron Carpenter of Duke, 7-5, 7-6 (6). Newcomer Predrag Burmazovic (Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro) was also defeated, falling to Joakim Karlsson of Lander, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0.

Competing in Division III singles, senior Ricardo Rojas (Caracas, Venezuela) defeated Brad Benedict of Georgia in the first round, downing him 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. Newcomers Travis Sandlant (Werribee, Australia) and Alex Ahlgren (Tyreso, Sweden) also came away with victories. Sandlant defeated Jeff Lester of Murray State, 6-3, 6-1, while Ahlgren defeated Gabriel Mattos of Arkansas, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

"In the third division we did excellent. Ricardo had a great win and it was good for our new guys to get some wins," Zaatini.

In doubles action, the BUcs advanced all four teams to the second round of action as Ahlgren/Olivares were granted a first round bye. Sandlant/Isaza defeated Sichel/Host of UNC-Charlotte, 8-5, while Burmazovic/Serrano defeated Mulligan/Dolberg of Florida, 8-6 and Insaurralde/Picardo defeated Weaver/Miletic of Samford, 8-6.

Saturday's competition will continue with the following action:

Division II Singles
Lisandro Picardo (ETSU) vs. Ryan Farlow (MSU)
Daniel Isaza (ETSU) vs. Eric Lim (MSU)

Division III Singles
Ricardo Rojas (ETSU) vs. Mark Gattiker (USF)
Travis Sandlant (ETSU) vs. James Moye (Vandy)
Alex Ahlgren (ETSU) vs. Norman Alcantara (UCF) 

Division I Consolation Singles
Felix Insaurralde (ETSU) vs. Joey Atas (Duke)
Enrique Olivares (ETSU) vs. David Simon (Louisville)

Division II Consolation Singles
Sebastian Serrano (ETSU) vs. Scott Blackmon (Georgia Tech)
Predrag Burmazovic (ETSU) vs. David Ray (BSU)

Division I Doubles
Sandlant/Isaza (ETSU) vs. Srugo/Cancado (ODU)

Division II Doubles
Ahlgren/Olivares (ETSU) vs. Bailey/Closer (FSU)
Burmazovic/Serrano (ETSU) vs. Babinciuc/Clinard (SELA)
Insaurralde/Picardo (ETSU) vs. Roca/Pinto (VT)