DeLAND, Fla. (April 15, 2011) - After falling behind early at the conclusion of doubles play, the ETSU men's tennis team got reenergized in singles play to defeat Campbell, 4-1, Friday night in the semifinals of the Atlantic Sun Tournament at Stetson's Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.
ETSU (16-6) won its seventh consecutive match to march into the A-Sun Tournament final for the fifth straight season. The Bucs will play host Stetson in the championship match tomorrow at 1 p.m.
"It was a tough match, but the guys proved again that they can bounce back and they just kind of went out and got it," said ETSU Director of Tennis Yaser Zaatini. "Everyone got off to a quick start in singles except Juan (Ramirez) and he ended up clinching the match for us. I am proud of the guys because they battled. They had to play under the lights and different conditions, also the fact of preparing to play during the day and all of the sudden it turns into a night match. It is just an attribute to them really believing."
The Bucs got out of the gates a little slow as they dropped two out of the three doubles matches to fall behind 1-0. The ETSU duo of Sander Gille (Kuringen, Belgium) and Jesus Bandres (Caracas, Venezuela) opened the day by winning their 12th straight match, but the Camels took the other two matches. Gille and Bandres beat Larbi Lamzouri and Josep Baro at the No. 2 position, 8-3.
Down 1-0 after doubles, ETSU started off strong in singles play. The Bucs evened the match up after Gille made quick work of Lamzouri, 6-2, 6-1, at the No. 2 position.
ETSU then took its first lead of the night after freshman Roger Ordeig (Gurb, Spain) blanked Ondrej Kralik, 6-0, 6-0, at the No. 6 position. Ordeig, who earned second-team all-conference and all-freshman accolades on Tuesday, now improves to 10-2 in dual singles play.
The Bucs increased their lead just moments later as senior Charles Bottoni (Bois Guillaume, France) defeated David Clavera, 6-1, 6-3, at the No. 4 position. Bottoni has now won eight straight singles matches.
ETSU clinched the match at the No. 4 position as sophomore Juan Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay) knocked off Baro, 6-3, 6-3. Ramirez now moves to 13-6 in dual singles play, while extending his winning streak to five straight matches.
Campbell closes out the season with a 17-5 overall record.
The Bucs defeated Stetson, 6-1 earlier in the season at home; however, the Hatters were without starter Maksim Levanovich, who has since returned to the lineup. Live stats and live video will be available for the championship match at GoHatters.com.
ETSU faces fourth-seeded tournament host Stetson with the A-Sun title on the line for the fifth consecutive season. The Bucs have won all four of the previous showdowns against the Hatters - twice by a 4-2 margin (2009 and 2010) and twice by the score of 4-0 (2007 and 2008).
"We beat a different team earlier in the season," said Zaatini. "They were conceding probably two or three points with everybody moving up in the lineup since they were without their No. 1. They had to play people from the bench that had not played much. Arguably they beat the team to beat which was UNF. We are going against the home school and their terrain so we just have to pray to God that we are ready."
For more information on ETSU men's tennis please go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's tennis link. Also, be sure to follow ETSU Athletics on Facebook and Twitter.
ETSU 4, Campbell 1
Apr 15, 2011 at Deland, Fla. (Mandy Stoll Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Grega Teraz (ETSU) vs. #124 Davy Sum (CAM) 6-1, 3-6, 1-2, unfinished
2. Sander Gille (ETSU) def. Larbi Lamzouri (CAM) 6-2, 6-1
3. Jesus Bandres (ETSU) vs. Fernando Guillen (CAM) 6-0, 3-6, 3-2, unfinished
4. Charles Bottoni (ETSU) def. David Clavera (CAM) 6-1, 6-3
5. Juan Ramirez (ETSU) def. Josep Baro (CAM) 6-3, 6-3
6. Roger Ordeig (ETSU) def. Ondrej Kralik (CAM) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. David Clavera/Fernando Guillen (CAM) def. Grega Teraz/Charles Bottoni (ETSU) 8-4
2. Sander Gille/Jesus Bandres (ETSU) def. Larbi Lamzouri/Josep Baro (CAM) 8-3
3. Davy Sum/Ondrej Kralik (CAM) def. Robin Akser/Juan Ramirez (ETSU) 8-4
Match Notes
Campbell 17-5
ETSU 16-6
Order of finish: Doubles(2,3,1); Singles (2,6,4,5)
