JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 22, 2007) - The top-seeded ETSU men's tennis team captured the 2007 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Championship with a 4-0 victory over Stetson on Sunday. The Bucs are now 23-4 on the year, while the Hatters fall to 20-7.The victory also earned the Bucs their fifth trip to the NCAA Championships since 1999.  

The Bucs came out on fire as they took the doubles point and earned a 1-0 advantage. Senior Travis Sandlant (Werribee, Australia) and Alex Ahlgren (Tyreso, Sweden) dropped Marcus Echtler and Filip Kricka, 8-6 in the No. 1 spot, while Lisandro Picardo (Mar del Plata, Argentina) and Daniel Isaza (Medellin, Colombia) downed Hicham Laalej and Peter Dzuba, 8-3 in the third position.  

Junior Sebastian Serrano (Cartagena, Colombia) was the first off the court as he cruised past Serguei Boulanov in the No. 5 slot, 6-2, 6-4 to give the Bucs the 2-0 lead. Competing in the No. 2 slot Enrique Olivares (Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) picked up his third win of the tournament defeating Marcus Echtler 6-2, 6-3. Alex Ahlgren then sealed the victory for ETSU as he dropped Danai Stamp, 7-6, 6-2.

Predrag Burmazovic (Belgrade, Serbia) won his first set 6-4 and was leading the second set, 2-1 over A-Sun Freshman and Player of the Year Hicham Laalej when the match was called. Lisandro Picardo and Felix Insaurralde (Asuncion, Paraguay) were also leading their matches when play was suspended.

"The guys really came out with something to prove today," said head coach Yaser Zaatini. "It was close at first in the doubles but they really wanted to win in front of this big home crowd today. I knew it could go either way today, but this is what we have done all year. Stetson came out to play, I just thought that we were so prepared and wanted it so much that there we weren't going to let anyone take it away from us."

Three members of the ETSU men's squad, Predrag Burmazovic, Felix Insaurralde and Enrique Olivares, were named to the All-Tournament team. Olivares was also named the tournament MVP. Burmazovic is 26-12 on the season, while Insaurralde won one match in the tournament and holds a 19-14 record. Olivares won all three of his matches in the tournament and is currently 29-10 on the year.

The selection for the 2007 NCAA Championships will be announced on May 1. This year's tournament will be held at the University of Georgia.

For all ETSU men's tennis action and information on the NCAA Championships visit www.ETSUBucs.com.

ETSU 4, SU 0

Singles

No. 1- Predrag Burmazovic (ETSU) vs. Hicham Laalej (SU) DNF

No. 2- Enrique Olivares (ETSU) def. Marcus Echtler (SU) 6-2, 6-3

No. 3- Felix Insaurralde (ETSU) vs. Filip Kricka (SU) DNF

No. 4- Sebastian Serrano (ETSU) def. Serguei Boulanov (SU) 6-2, 6-4

No. 5- Lisandro Picardo (ETSU) vs. Joey Jones (SU) DNF

No. 6- Alex Ahlgren (ETSU) def. Danai Stamp (SU) 7-6, 6-2

Doubles

No. 1- Ahlgren/Sandlant (ETSU) def. Echtler/Kricka (SU) 8-6

No. 2- Olivares/Serrano (ETSU) vs. Boulanov/Jones (SU) DNF

No. 3- Isaza/Picardo (ETSU) def. Dzuba/Laalej (SU) 8-3