Facing a tiebreaker rally from Furman’s Chris Henderson, East Tennessee State’s Alejandro Salazar overcame the challenge to win his singles match 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) and give the Buccaneers a 4-3 victory over their Southern Conference rival Tuesday at the ETSU Tennis Center.
First-year head coach Yaser Zaatini, whose team improved to 9-6 overall, 4-1 in SoCon play, said he was proud of Salazar, especially after he gave up a 6-2 lead in the tiebreaker and still managed to take the win.
“I think that says a lot about his ability,” Zaatini said. “That was a tough situation but he still came through. For our team, this is a very important win.”
The Bucs opened the day by earning a point in doubles play. Salazar and doubles teammate Marcos Pavlovich teamed up to drop Furman’s James Cameron and Pat Fillnow, 8-6. Meanwhile, Diego Iglesias and Moises Serrano defeated Furman’s Ben Pauluhn and Andrew Rogers, 8-3. The Paladins lone victory in doubles came when Allen Simmons and Henderson dropped Federico Ochoa and Fernando Fiuri, 8-1.
While Salazar’s match highlighted singles play, the Bucs also got outstanding performances from Iglesias and Fiuri.
Iglesias held off Andrew Rogers’ comeback attempt to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, while Fiuri dropped Fillnow in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5.
ETSU’s next match is Friday, when the Bucs travel outside of conference play to meet Tennessee Tech.
The Bucs will return to Johnson City to close out their Southern Conference schedule and regular season slate with four straight home matches, beginning with an Sunday meeting with Georgia Southern.

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