JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 23, 2013) – The ETSU men’s tennis team suffered its second loss in as many days at its newly built complex as Dartmouth escaped Johnson City victorious on Saturday, 4-3.

The doubles point determined the outcome. ETSU (5-6, 1-1 A-Sun) won the set on court one and was beaten on court three, setting up the deciding matchup at No. 2. Dartmouth (8-8) came away with the win as Alex de Chatellus and Brendan Tannenbaum defeated Jorge Varon (Valencia, Venezuela) and Juan Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay), 9-7.

The six singles matches were split with the Blue and Gold winning at No. 1, 2 and 3, while the Big Green took the points at No. 4, 5 and 6. Brandon DeBot clinched for Dartmouth College on court five, saving multiple set points and defeating Ricardo Pabon (Bogota, Columbia), 6-2, 7-6 (9-7).

“We’re a table with three legs. If we’re pushed, we’re incapable of standing up,” Director of ETSU Tennis Yaser Zaatini said. “Our team is not deep enough and I take full responsibility for it. All the guys were competing hard, but we need to have alternate pieces in order to function correctly.”

The loss dips ETSU’s record back below .500 for the first time since being 1-2 after a loss in late January to Ohio State.

Senior Jesus Bandres (Caracas, Venezuela) and sophomore Rogerio Ribeiro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) gave the Bucs a chance to win. Bandres won at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 6-1, over Xander Centenari – ranked No. 7 in the Northeast Region – and Ribeiro won at No. 2 over Chris Kipouras, 6-1, 6-3. In doubles, Bandres and Ribeiro teamed for an, 8-5, set win at No. 1.

It wasn’t enough to lift ETSU to victory. Pabon and Roger Ordeig (Gurb, Spain) surrendered a close set at No. 3 doubles to Cameron Ghorbani and Chris Kipouras, 8-6, before de Chatellus and Teannenbaum got past Varon and Ramirez for the day’s first point.

Ramirez was able to bounce back and defeat Ghorbani at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-3, and put ETSU ahead in the match, 3-2. Erik Nordahl then bounced Ordeig, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) and DeBot finished off Pabon and a victory for the Big Green.

The Buccaneers return to conference play next weekend as they head to Florida for matchups against Stetson and FGCU.

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