Thursday, September 22, 2011

Buccaneers split time between two weekend tournaments

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (September 22, 2011) – The ETSU men’s tennis team will have student-athletes in two different locations this weekend, as the Bucs will be represented in both the Southern Intercollegiate and UVA Ranked + 1 Invitational.

The Southern Intercollegiate will take place in Athens, Ga., while the UVA Ranked Plus One Invitational will be hosted by UVA in Charlottesville, Va.  

Last weekend, the reigning Atlantic Sun champions competed in the UT Invitational, putting together a strong opening performance. Newcomer Rogerro Ribeiro advanced all the way through to the final of the white main draw, but fell to Tennessee’s Bryan Swartz in a very competitive three-set match (3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (1-7)). Senior Robin Akser (Ornskoldsvik, Sweden) picked his way through the semifinals of the white flight, but fell to Swartz as well in what almost was an all ETSU final.

Senior Jeremy Bonnevalle (Keerbergen, Belgium) also had a good showing last weekend, advancing to the quarterfinals of the orange main draw before succumbing to Winthrop’s Dejon Bivens (6-3, 6-4).

This weekend, Bonnevalle, Juan Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay) and Ribeiro will be competing at the Southern Intercollegiate in the division I singles draw, while Akser and Jorge Varon (Valencia, Venezuela) will play through the division II singles draw. Connor Knox will represent ETSU in the division III singles flight.

In doubles play, Ramirez and Varon will team up in the division I doubles draw, as will Akser and Bonnevalle.

At the UVA Ranked + 1, the Bucs will send Ordeig into the blue singles flight, while Sander Gille (Kuringen, Belgium) and Jesus Bandres (Caracas, Venezuela) will compete in the orange singles bracket. Bandres has been selected as the No. 4 overall seed in the orange flight.

Gille and Bandres will team up for doubles action in the invitational’s orange doubles flight. Last year, the doubles force of Gille and Bandres went 19-9 against their competition through the season – the most wins by any ETSU doubles combination.

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