Ospreys snap ETSU’s 18-match A-Sun winning streak

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 22, 2013) – The senior-laden No. 75 North Florida Ospreys defeated the No. 68 ETSU men’s tennis team, 4-3, on Friday from the newly built ETSU Tennis Complex.

North Florida (9-6, 3-0 A-Sun) took the doubles point to gain momentum and won three of the first four singles matches to clinch the win at 4-1. ETSU (5-5, 1-0 A-Sun) earned the final two points as Rogerio Ribeiro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Ricardo Pabon (Bogota, Columbia) won in match tiebreaks after the outcome was decided. Junior Roger Ordeig (Gurb, Spain) was the other Buccaneer to earn a win, downing Pedro Davisson to pull the match to 2-1 at the time.

The loss ends ETSU’s streak of 18 consecutive Atlantic Sun victories dating back to the 2011 season. The team that defeated the Bucs that year was North Florida.

“We’re disappointed,” ETSU assistant coach Ricky Rojas said. “This is a match we know we can win and a match we should have won.”

Senior Jesus Bandres (Caracas, Venezuela) and Ribeiro got the day off to the right start, earning a doubles victory, 8-5, past Moritz Buerchner and Justin Belair. UNF rallied to take the other two sets by scores of 8-4 and 8-5, clinching at No. 2.

Buerchner avenged the doubles loss to Bandres in singles, putting the Ospreys quickly ahead by two, 6-2, 6-4, on court one. Ordeig put the Bucs on the board, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5, but before ETSU could enjoy the point Belair downed Jorge Varon (Valencia, Venezuela), 6-3, 6-4, putting the Ospreys on the brink of victory.

The clincher was hard to come by. Ultimately, Norbert Nemcsek overcame Juan Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay) in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, to end ETSU’s A-Sun streak.

The Buccaneers will try and bounce back Saturday, hosting Dartmouth in non-conference play. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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