(Statesboro, Ga.) ? The Stetson men's tennis team won for the fifth straight time with a 5-2 victory at Georgia Southern Sunday afternoon. The Hatters once again took the doubles point and proceeded to take four of the six singles matches.
“It was another great team performance on the road against a top opponent,” head coach Pierre Pilote said. “This team keeps coming up with big wins at home and on the road, fighting through adversity.”
The No. 1 doubles team of Marcus Echtler and Filip Kricka cruised to an 8-2 win while Joey Jones and Serguei Boulanov secured the doubles point with an 8-4 win at the No. 2 position.
Hicham Laalej continued his impressive freshman campaign with a hard-fought, three-set win at No. 1 singles over Gregory Bekkers. Boulanov, Jones, and Peter Dzuba also earned singles victories on Sunday.
“Our schedule this year is the most challenging in the program's history,” Pilote said. “Fatigue and injuries have not been able to stop these guys and I am extremely proud of them.”
The Hatters return to DeLand for a 2:30 p.m. match Tuesday against Buffalo at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.
Results
Georgia Southern vs Stetson University
3/11/2007
Stetson University 5, Georgia Southern 2
Singles competition
1. LAALEJ, Hicham (STET) def. BEKKERS, Gregory (GSU) 6-0, 5-7, 10-6
2. NKOUELEUE, Emmanuel (GSU) def. KRICKA, Filip (STET) 6-4, 6-2
3. BOULANOV, Serguei (STET) def. SANDS, Matthew (GSU) 6-1, 7-6 (6)
4. JONES, Joey (STET) def. PRINS, Philip (GSU) 6-2, 6-3
5. MALET, Borja (GSU) def. STAMP, Daniel (STET) 6-4, 6-3
6. DZUBA, Peter (STET) def. SHINE, Neil (GSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. ECHTLER, Marcus/KRICKA, Filip (STET) def. PRINS, Philip/MALET, Borja (GSU) 8-2
2. JONES, Joey/BOULANOV, Serguei (STET) def. BEKKERS, Gregory/NKOUELEUE, Emmanuel (GSU) 8-4
3. SHINE, Neil/SANDS, Matthew (GSU) def. DZUBA, Peter/STAMP, Daniel (STET) 8-4
Match Notes:
Georgia Southern 4-9, 1-2 SoCon
Stetson University 9-5, 3-1 A-Sun
