UNC Wilmington Rallies Past ECU, 4-3

April 12, 2008

WILMINGTON, N.C. - UNC Wilmington bounced back from a doubles' point loss by claiming four of six singles matches and rallied past East Carolina 4-3 in non-conference men's tennis action Saturday afternoon at the Varsity Courts.

The victory, UNCW's fifth-straight, improved the Seahawks' record to 14-6 while ECU dropped its seventh one-point match of the year to fall to 13-11.

East Carolina jumped out to an early 1-0 team advantage with a doubles sweep. After Bryan Oakley and Stephen Whitwell opened the action with an 8-5 win over Alex Wetherell and Illia Ziamtsou at the No. 3 position, the Pirates followed with triumphs at No. 1 and No. 2 to clinch the point. Jaroslav Horvath and Henrique Viana defeated Michael Pereira and Kinshuk Sharma 8-6 before Aleksey Kochetov and Henrik Skalmerud posted an identical victory over Gustavo Bertei and Brian Ford.

In singles play, the Pirates earned a pair of three-set wins as Horvath outlasted Bertei 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 at No. 1 and Skalmerud bounced back after an opening set loss to record a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Wetherell at No. 5. However, the Seahawks posted straight-set triumphs at the No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 slots to produce the team win.

East Carolina will now begin preparations for the 2008 Conference USA Championship Tournament, which opens Thursday on the SMU campus in Dallas, Texas.

UNC WILMINGTON 4, EAST CAROLINA 3
Singles Play
No. 1 - Jaroslav Horvath (ECU) def. Gustavo Bertei (UNCW); 6-4, 4-6, 10-8
No. 2 - Michael Pereira (UNCW) def. Henrique Viana (ECU); 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 - Kinshuk Sharma (UNCW) def. Stephen Whitwell (ECU); 7-6 (4), 6-3
No. 4 - Illia Ziamtsou (UNCW) def. Aleksey Kochetov (ECU); 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 - Henrik Skalmerud (ECU) def. Alex Wetherell (UNCW); 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 - Brian Ford (UNCW) def. Bryan Oakley (ECU); 6-3, 6-2
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Horvath/Viana (ECU) def. Pereira/Sharma (UNCW); 8-6
No. 2 - Kochetov/Skalmerud (ECU) def. Bertei/Ford (UNCW); 8-6
No. 3 - Oakley/Whitwell (ECU) def. Wetherell/Ziamtsou (UNCW); 8-5
Team Records: East Carolina 13-11, UNC Wilmington 14-6

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