Pirate Tennis Opens Season With 4-3 Win

Jan. 24, 2009

WOODBRIDGE, Va. - East Carolina rebounded from an early doubles' point setback by claiming four of six singles matches, including a deciding 7-6, 7-5 victory by senior Aleksey Kochetov, to rally past George Washington 4-3 in men's tennis action Friday afternoon at the Montclair Country Club.

The win enabled the Pirates to open the 2009 season at 1-0 while the Colonials dropped their third straight to fall to 0-3.

George Washington jumped out to an early 1-0 team advantage with a pair of competitive doubles victories. Despite an 8-3 win by Kochetov and Henrik Skalmerud at the No. 2 position, the Colonials clinched the point by taking the No. 1 and No. 3 matchups - using a 9-8 triumph by Ugur Atalay and Richard Blumenfeld, and an 9-7 victory by Erik Hannah and Arya Vayghan.

With the overall match tied 3-3 and East Carolina holding a slim 3-2 margin in singles play, Kochetov outlasted Chris Kushma at the No. 4 position to secure the Pirates' win. In addition to Kochetov's match-decider, Jaroslav Horvath (6-1, 6-3 over Hannah at No. 1), Skalmerud (6-2, 6-3 over Alex Sohaili at No. 5) and Bryan Oakley (6-4, 6-0 over Vayghan at No. 6) earned singles victories.

The Pirates will play the second of their three-match season-opening road swing next Saturday when they face Big South opponent UNC Asheville beginning at 5:00 p.m.

EAST CAROLINA 4, GEORGE WASHINGTON 3
Singles Play
No. 1 - Jaroslav Horvath (ECU) def. Erik Hannah (GW); 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 - Ugur Atalay (GW) def. Denis Ermilov (ECU); 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 - Yan Levinski (GW) def. Stephen Whitwell (ECU); 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 - Aleksey Kochetov (ECU) def. Chris Kushma (GW); 7-6 (4), 7-5
No. 5 - Henrik Skalmerud (ECU) def. Alex Sohaili (GW); 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 - Bryan Oakley (ECU) def. Arya Vayghan (GW); 6-4, 6-0
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Atalay/Richard Blumenfeld (GW) def. Ermilov/Horvath (ECU); 9-8 (5)
No. 2 - Kochetov/Skalmerud (ECU) def. Kushma/Levinski (GW); 8-3
No. 3 - Hannah/Vayghan (GW) def. Oakley/Whitwell (ECU); 9-7
Team Records: East Carolina 1-0, George Washington 0-3

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