East Tennessee State’s men’s tennis team, currently ranked 68th in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Associ-ation, opened its 2003 spring season at the Virginia Commonwealth Invitational with a 5-0 win over Delaware and 4-1 decision over Norfolk State.
The Buccaneers were perfect in singles competition led by junior Diego Iglesias at the No. 1 spot. In doubles, senior Marcos Pavlovich and sophomore Federico Ochoa won their first match of the day, a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Adam Liebman and Josh Ditman of Delaware. Pavlovich and Ochoa were bested by the duo from Norfolk State later in the afternoon, 6-4, 7-5.
ETSU will play its last match of the weekend on Sunday versus 16th-ranked and tournament host VCU. The match will begin at 9 a.m.
East Tennessee State women’s tennis team opened up the spring season with a win over Radford, 5-2, Saturday at Virginia Tech.
Freshman Sylwia Ziolkowska lost the first two games of her match and went on to win 12 straight to defeat Radford’s Jihane Najdi 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
At No. 2 singles, Buccaneer sophomore Gemma Halim defeated Caroline Downs 6-2, 6-0. Junior transfer Courtney McInnis defeated Christina Glas, 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 3 position. Tatiana Arriaran defeated Ashley Stevenson in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 4 spot.
Radford’s Diane Duarte defeated ETSU’s Aimee Villavicencio 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5 singles.
Laura Dickinson defeated ETSU’s Jewel Aldea, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-1, at the No. 6 spot.
The Bucs swept the Highlanders in doubles action, 3-0. ETSU’s Jessica Irey and Halim defeated Najdi and Glas, 8-3, at the No. 1 position.
McInnis and Ziolkowska defeated Downs and Duarte of Radford, 8-3, at the No. 2 spot and Arriaran and Villavicencio defeated Stevenson and Dickenson, 9-8, (7-5), playing in the third position.
“Today was a good start to the season,” Buccaneer head coach Steve Brooks said. “We played well up top, but we have a lot to work on.”
The Buccaneers will return to action Feb. 1-2, when they travel to Richmond, Va., to participate at the Virginia Commonwealth tournament.

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