ATHENS, Ga. (Sept. 9, 2012) – Sophomore Rogerio Ribeiro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) gutted his way all the way to the Division II semifinals on Sunday at the 45th annual Southern Intercollegiate Championships, but fell in three sets to The Citadel’s David Orces 3-6, 6-0, 6-3.

Ribeiro began the day in the quarterfinals as the only ETSU men’s tennis participant remaining in either of the main singles draws. The second-year Buc took down Virginia Tech’s Aaron Gomez 7-5, 6-2, earning his fourth victory of the tournament. After winning the first set against Orces, Ribeiro dropped the second at love before being ousted in the third.

“It was good to see the transformation of a young kid from last year, to what Rogerio is becoming this year,” Director of ETSU Tennis Yaser Zaatini said. “It made me proud. Rogerio, Ricardo Pabon and Roger Ordeig really epitomized the spirit of what I want this team to be during this tournament. If we can feed off of that, we’ll be tough to beat.”

Ricardo Pabon (Bogota, Columbia) fought back to earn a consolation win over conference foe North Florida’s Beauregard Treyz 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (12-10), while Roger Ordeig (Gurb, Spain) took down another A-Sun school opponent in Victor Dias 7-5, 6-2.

Senior Juan Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay) earned another ETSU victory in the Division I consolation bracket, taking down Georgia Southern’s Andrew Dromsky in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.

In Sunday’s doubles action, Ramirez and Jorge Varon (Valencia, Venezuela) advanced all the way to the semifinals in the Division II main draw, earning victories over Clemson and North Florida duos.

ETSU’s next fall tournament comes in two weeks, when it heads to Charlottesville, Va. for the UVA Ranked Plus One.

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