Bucs play Oklahoma State Sunday

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Jan. 19, 2013) – The No. 71 ETSU men’s tennis team began dual play on Saturday against No. 66 Wake Forest inside the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center, and was swept away, 7-0, to begin the season in the loss column.

ETSU (0-1) began by being taken down at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Jesus Bandres (Caracas, Venezuela) and Rogerio Ribeiro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) were defeated on court one by Wake’s (1-0) David Hopkins and Amogh Prabhakar, 8-3, while Roger Ordeig (Gurb, Spain) and Ricardo Pabon (Bogota, Columbia) were defeated on court three by Danny Kreyman and Sam Bloom, 8-4.

The unfinished doubles match on court two stopped with Juan Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay) and Jorge Varon (Valencia, Venezuela) leading, 7-5, but would not have changed much about the final result as ETSU was denied every set in singles.

“There is a team within us, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to bring it out of them,” Director of ETSU Tennis Yaser Zaatini said. “We have a bunch of believers on this team, but they need to put forth what it takes to get there. The words are taken by the wind. I want actions.”

A discouraged Zaatini saw his No. 1 singles player, Bandres, win just two games in a straight-set loss, while Ordeig won only one game at No. 5. The only set to be particularly close was the first played on court four between Ramirez and Jon Ho, which Ho won in a tiebreak 7-6  (7-3).

The Buccaneers will look to rebound on Sunday, as they head to Knoxville, Tenn., for a neutral-court matchup against Oklahoma State.

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For more information on ETSU men’s tennis, please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.