Spring Break
Tennis teams continue dominant streaks
Staff Reports
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: Sports
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ECU tallied four singles wins, three coming in straight-set fashion, and the doubles point to record a 5-2 non-conference men's tennis victory over Gardner-Webb Saturday afternoon at the ECU Tennis Complex.
The Pirates have opened the 2009 campaign with six wins in their first seven matches, while the Bulldogs dropped to 1-9.
ECU opened the match by sweeping doubles play to capture the first point. Bryan Oakley and Stephen Whitwell defeated Carlos Quijano and Andrew Veeder 8-1 at the No. 3 position before Aleksey Kochetov and Henrik Skalmerud clinched the tally after upending Ryan Bernthal and Jamie Lawlor 8-3 at No. 2. Denis Ermilov and Jaroslav Horvath handed Rafael Altmayer and Evgeny Slesarev an 8-5 loss at the No. 1 slot to close out the pairs action.
The Pirates wrapped up the triumph in singles play, winning four of six matchups. Oakley dispatched Bernthal (6-3, 6-0) at No. 6 and Kochetov handled Lawlor (6-2, 6-2) at No. 5 before Whitwell and Ermilov added 6-3, 6-2 and 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 victories over Veeder and Altmayer at the No. 2 and 3 slots, respectively.
The Bulldogs' two victories came at the No. 1 and No. 4 flights as Slesarev dismissed Horvath 6-2, 7-5 and Quijano rallied past Skalmerud 6-2, 4-6, 1-0.
ECU will continue its three-match homestand Friday when it welcomes Southern Conference member The Citadel to Greenville. First serve is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Women
The ECU women's tennis squad captured all six singles matches -- five in straight sets -- and swept doubles play to record a 7-0 non-conference victory over Wofford Saturday afternoon at the ECU Tennis Complex.
The win, which also served as the Lady Pirates' third-straight shutout, improved ECU's overall spring dual match record to 4-1. The Terriers suffered their fourth consecutive loss, dropping their season mark to 0-4.
The Lady Pirates opened the match by capturing the doubles point as all three tandems tallied 8-2 victories. Jessica Cook and Varinia Soler defeated Cayley Wetzig and Sabrina Smyers at No. 1, Rocio Cabanillas and Brooke Walter handled Haley Baird and Ashley Lawrence at No. 2, while Natalie Collins and Tamara Sachs closed out pairs play with a triumph over Kristin Demosthenes and Betsy Hauer at the No. 3 position.
ECU continued its strong play in singles action, notching straight-set triumphs at the top two and last three slots. Cook (6-3, 6-1 at No. 1), Soler (6-1, 6-3 at No. 2), Walter (6-3, 6-3 at No. 4), Cabanillas (6-0, 6-0 at No. 5) and Sachs (6-2, 6-2 at No. 6) all cruised to victories, while Collins rallied back for a 2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-7) victory over Baird at the No. 3 spot.
ECU will return to action Wednesday when it hosts Campbell in a match scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
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