DeLand, Fla. ? The 67th-ranked Stetson men's tennis team (16-4) completed its first undefeated home season in program history Saturday, defeating visiting Delaware 6-1. The Hatters won five of the six singles matches in straight sets. Stetson completed the home portion of its 2008 schedule with a perfect 12-0 record.
Two of the seniors that were playing their final home matches today, Marcus Echtler (Venice, Fla.) and Joey Jones (Titusville, Fla.) won singles matches. Echtler defeated Austin Longacre 6-4, 6-1 at #1 singles while Jones handled his Blue Hen foe Sam Barrer by a 6-2, 6-1 score at the #3 position. Sophomore Hicham Laalej (Meknes, Morocco), junior Filip Kricka (Umag, Croatia) and freshman Chris Swanteson (Vaxjo, Sweden) won their singles matches in straight sets.
In earlier doubles matches, Echtler teamed with junior Filip Kricka (Umag, Croatia) to win 8-5 against Longacre and Nolan Greenberg at the #1 slot. Swanteson and junior Serguei Boulanov (Bradenton, Fla.) also picked up a doubles victory. Echtler and Kricka are now 14-1 on the season as a doubles duo.
“It was great to see our seniors hit the court one more time at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center, Head Coach Pierre Pilote said. “They have carved themselves a significant place in the history of this program. I'm so glad that our fans came out in numbers to see what will probably be known as our best class ever.”
The Hatters play their final three matches, all Atlantic Sun matches, on the road, starting with Lipscomb on Friday, April 4 at a time to be determined.
