JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (August 17, 2006) - Sebastian Serrano (Cartagena, Colombia) of the ETSU men's tennis team, has had a successful summer, winning two ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit events in the western region and competing in the ITA National Summer Championships. Serrano, a junior, compiled a 19-7 record for the Bucs last season in the No. 6 position.

In the Newport Beach, Calif. event, the first of the circuit, Serrano defeated Scott Hoehnstein (UC Santa Barbara), 6-3, 6-3 to advance. In the Round of 16, Serrano defeated Vasileios Psyrras (Vanguard University), 7-6, 6-1, before losing a hard fought match to Jeff Zeller (Stanford), 7-6, 4-6, 10-2 in the Round of 8.

During the circuit's third event at Cal Poly-Pomona, Serrano defeated Vasileios Psyrras, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the Round of 16 where he defeated Jordan Peana (UC Riverside), 6-4, 6-2. Serrano then defeated Petr Sitnikov (Fresno Pacific), 6-2, 6-4 in the Round of 8 before defeating Josh Lederman (Yale), 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals. In the finals, Serrano emerged as the champion after defeating Alex Krueger-Wyman (Princeton), 7-6, 3-6, (10-5).

In the last event of the circuit, held at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Serrano again emerged as the champion as he defeated Griffin Richards (Colby), 6-0, 6-0, before defeating Alex Edstrom (UC San Diego), 7-5, 6-2, to advance to the Round of 16. Serrano then faced Josh Finkelstein (UC Santa Barbara) defeating him, 6-4, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, Serrano defeated Geoff Chizever (Colorado), 6-3, 7-5, before defeating Alex Rosinski (No. 18 Washington), 2-6, 6-0, 10-7 to move on to the finals. In the finals, Serrano took on another member of the nationally ranked Washington Huskies, Andy Gerst, defeating him 7-5, 6-2 for the title.

With the two victories, Serrano finished first in the ITA west region. Serrano went on to compete at the ITA National Summer Championships, where he defeated Bryan Norville (Western Michigan), 6-2, 6-2, Jared Miller (Toledo), 6-3, 6-4, before falling to Paul Rose (Perdue), 6-3, 6-1 in the Round of 16.

"I'm extremely excited about his performance, not only for what he has achieved but, I believe the guys are beginning to understand that they have to remain competitive during the summer in order to be successful throughout the year," said Head Coach Yaser Zaatini.

The ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit presented by the USTA was played at 23 regional sites throughout the country during the month of July. Over 20,000 men and women have competed in circuit events since it began in 1993. The circuit provides college tennis players the opportunity to compete in organized events virtually year round. It is made up of six regional circuits (East, Southeast, Midwest, Central, Southwest and West) and each region consists of four consecutive tournaments played during the month of July, leading up to the ITA National Summer Championships in August. Players accumulate points based on their performance and advancement in a given tournament.