DeLand, Fla. - Top-seeded and 59th-ranked ETSU (16-7) held off a rally from second-seeded Stetson (20-5) to win its fourth consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference Men's Tennis Championship at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon. ETSU's Sander Gille was named A-Sun Tournament Most Valuable Player.
The Bucs received two doubles wins from Gille/Jesus Bandres (Court 2) and Daniel Isaza/Robin Akser (Court 3) to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The first four singles matches then went back and forth with each team taking two wins each. Juan Ramirez beat Stetson sophomore Njal Stene (Oslo, Norway) 6-3, 7-5 on Court 6 and Gille sunk senior Mark Mestan (Cologne, Germany) 6-2, 6-4 at the #2 position; mixed in were wins from junior Alex Hackett (Surrey, England) and sophomore Cesare Gallo (Portogruaro, Italy). Hackett beat Jeremy Bonnevalle 6-2, 6-4 on Court 5 and Gallo defeated Charles Bottoni 6-4, 6-3 in the #4 slot.
ETSU led 3-2 as the remaining two matches went to third sets; Hatter freshman Didrik Berg (Oslo, Norway) suffered an ankle injury midway through his winner-take-all set against Daniel Isaza on Court 3; although Berg would continue, he was considerably hobbled and Isaza closed him out 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to salt away the title for the Bucs. Isaza earned All-Tournament honors, as did Gallo and Levanovich for the Hatters. The other members of the All-Tournament Team were Campbell's Davy Sum and UNF's Daniel Sotomarino.
The Hatters, who reached the A-Sun Tournament finals for the fifth year in a row, finished with their third 20-win season in the last four years and will return nearly their entire roster next fall, losing only Mestan to graduation.
