DeLand, Fla. ? 59th-ranked East Tennessee State (9-7, 7-0 Atlantic Sun) got the best of the Stetson men's tennis team (16-5, 7-1 A-Sun) in a battle for first place in the standings, knocking off the Hatters 5-2 on Thursday at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. Junior Mark Mestan (Cologne, Germany) and freshman Njal Stene (Oslo, Norway) won singles matches for Stetson, which lost in league play for the first time this season.
Stene defeated Daniel Isaza 6-4, 7-5 at #4 singles while Mestan overcame Sander Gille in a third-set tiebreaker 6-7, 6-4, 1-0 (7) at the #2 position. Both Hatter points, however, came after ETSU had already clinched the match with four straight points. The Buccaneers have won three consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference championships.
Senior Filip Kricka (Umag, Croatia) was forced to contend with the powerful Enrique Olivares, the nation's 12th-ranked individual, at #1 singles where he fell 6-1, 6-1. Olivares and Alex Ahlgren, who form the #68 doubles duo in NCAA Division I, defeated Stene and sophomore Chris Swanteson (Vaxjo, Sweden) 8-4 at #1 doubles.
Kricka and freshman Maksim Levanovich (Minsk, Belarus) defeated Grega Teraz and Charles Bottoni 8-6 at #2 doubles, but the win did the Hatters no good as ETSU had already clinched the doubles point when Isaza and Robin Akser defeated Mestan and freshman Cesare Gallo (Portogruaro, Italy) 8-4 in the #3 slot.
The Hatters will attempt to shake off this disappointing defeat when they host league unbeaten USC Upstate at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. The Stetson women will also take on the Spartans at 2 p.m. immediately following the men's match in a battle for first place in the A-Sun standings.
