Top-seeded and 37th-ranked ETSU Bucs tennis team dropped the 56th-ranked Stetson Hatters, 4-0 on Sunday afternoon in route to their second consecutive Atlantic Sun conference title and NCAA berth.
The Bucs improve to 23-3 overall while the Hatters fall to 21-5.
The Bucs took the early 1-0 lead as they captured the doubles point. Daniel Isaza (Medellin, Colombia) and Lisandro Picardo (Mar del Plata, Argentina) cruised past Joey Jones and Marcus Echtler, 8-3 in the No. 3 position, while Enrique Olivares (Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) and Sebastian Serrano (Cartagena, Colombia) downed Filip Kricka and Hicham Laalej, 8-5 in the No. 2 slot.
The No. 1 doubles match was called when ETSU took the point.
ETSU continued to dominate the singles matches dropping Stetson in straight sets in the No. 6, 1, and 4 positions. In the No. 6 slot Daniel Isaza gave the Bucs the 2-0 advantage when he won his match over Gokay Celik who had to retire due to injury.
The 2008 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year, Enrique Olivares, defeated Marcus Echtler, 6-3, 6-1 in the top position while senior Lisandro Picardo clinched the match for the Bucs and continued his perfect spring season, 6-3, 6-1 over Filip Kricka in the No. 4 slot.
Three members of the team, Enrique Olivares, Oscar Posada and Lisandro Picardo were all named to the 2008 All-Tournament team while Olivares was named the Tournament MVP for the second consecutive year.
Olivares is 23-5 on the season, while Posada who had two tournament victories is 19-8 on the year. Picardo who picked up victories in two tournament matches is 27-3 on the season and 19-0 in the spring.
The selection for the 2008 NCAA Championships will be announced on April 29. This year’s tournament will be hosted by the University of Tulsa.
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