Bucs to play No. 71 UL-Lafayette Sunday at 10 a.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio. (Jan. 26, 2013) – Up against No. 4 Ohio State to begin the fifth annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend, the 72nd-ranked ETSU men’s tennis team suffered its second loss of the season, 7-0, on Saturday morning inside the Buckeyes’ Varsity Tennis Center.

ETSU (1-2) was given the No. 4 seed at the Columbus site – seeding based off last year’s final ITA rankings – and was forced to play the top seed and host Ohio State (5-0). OSU displayed its strength from the onset, as Peter Kobelt and Kevin Metka defeated Roger Ordeig (Gurb, Spain) and Ricardo Pabon (Bogota, Columbia), 8-0, in the No. 3 doubles match. The doubles point would go to the Buckeyes, followed by all six singles points in straight sets.

“We played with a lot of heart from the start,” Director of ETSU Tennis Yaser Zaatini said. “Ohio State is an extremely good team. They outplayed us, but we stayed in the match and made them earn it.”

The Buccaneers forced the Buckeyes deep into quite a few sets. Sophomore Rogerio Ribeiro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) tested the top-ranked singles player in the ITA rankings, Peter Kobelt, with Kobelt eventually winning, 6-4. 6-3. Junior Jorge Varon (Valencia, Venezuela) nearly forced a tiebreak against Devin McCarthy in their first set, surrendering the match 7-5, 6-3. Senior Juan Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay) had a tough task on court four, facing the ITA’s 13th-ranked singles player, Connor Smith, and taking three games in each set.

Later in the day, No. 64 Miami (FL) defeated No. 71 UL-Lafayette, 4-3, meaning the Bucs will take on the Ragin’ Cajuns Sunday at 10 a.m., at Ohio State’s Varsity Tennis Center.

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