(DeLand, Fla.) ? The Stetson men's tennis team picked up an impressive conference win on the road at Jacksonville Wednesday afternoon. The Hatters took five of the six singles matches and won the doubles point for a decisive 6-1 victory.
Stetson (5-5, 1-1 A-Sun) has won five of the last six matches and Wednesday was the team's first conference win.
“We beat an excellent Jacksonville team on their home court,” head coach Pierre Pilote said. “Beating a team of this caliber on the road is always difficult but our doubles really started things off for us and we kept the momentum in the singles.”
Marcus Echtler and Filip Kricka took the #1 doubles match, 8-6, while Joey Jones and Serguei Boulanov blew by Jordi Ballester and Victor Vaz, 8-0.
Echtler and Hicham Laalej then each pulled out tough three-set matches in the #1 and #2 singles competitions, respectively. Kricka, Boulanov and Jones were all straight set winners.
“A win of this importance will prepare us well for the other conference challenges to come,” Pilote said. “It was an all-around good team performance.”
Next up for the Hatters is a home doubleheader with Duquesne and South Dakota State. Stetson will play Duquesne at 11:00 a.m. and SD State at 4:00 p.m. at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.
Results
Stetson University vs Jacksonville
2/28/2007 at Jacksonville, FL
Stetson University 6, Jacksonville 1
Doubles competition
1. ECHTLER, Marcus/KRICKA, Filip (STET) def. RAMOS, Ernesto/RIVEROLL, Francisco (JU) 8-6
2. JONES, Joey/BOULANOV, Serguei (STET) def. BALLESTER, Jordi/VAZ, Victor (JU) 8-0
3. OLIVEIRA, Marcos/CRAVEIRO, Vinicius (JU) def. DZUBA, Peter/STAMP, Daniel (STET) 8-5
Singles competition
1. ECHTLER, Marcus (STET) def. BALLESTER, Jordi (JU) 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (8)
2. LAALEJ, Hicham (STET) def. RIVEROLL, Francisco (JU) 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (4)
3. KRICKA, Filip (STET) def. VAZ, Victor (JU) 6-2, 7-6
4. BOULANOV, Serguei (STET) def. RAMOS, Ernesto (JU) 6-4, 6-3
5. JONES, Joey (STET) def. CRAVEIRO, Vinicius (JU) 6-3, 6-1
6. OLIVEIRA, Marcos (JU) def. DZUBA, Peter (STET) 6-4, 6-2
Match Notes:
Stetson University 5-5, 1-1 A-Sun
Jacksonville 3-3, 1-2 A-Sun
