After starting off the season with back-to-back losses the ETSU men’s tennis team evened its overall record Saturday to 2-2 as the 60th-ranked Bucs cruised past 71st-ranked Elon 6-1 inside the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Va.”We played solid today,” said head coach Yaser Zaatini. “Elon is a quality team that should again contend for a Southern Conference championship so I’m very proud of our performance this afternoon.”

ETSU opened play as 52nd-ranked Jesus Bandres (Caracas, Venezuela) and sophomore Sander Gille (Kuringen, Belgium) crushed Elon’s No. 2 doubles squad of Eric Turner and Alberto Rojas 8-2.

Senior Daniel Isaza (Medellin, Columbia) and sophomore Robin Akser (Ornskoldsvik, Sweden) then gave the Bucs the early 1-0 lead after they matched their teammates score over Cody McDowell and Thomas Darling.

“I thought today was our best doubles performances of the season,” said Zaatini. “That got us on the right foot to start the match and then our guys did an excellent job maintaining that momentum as we head into singles play.”

As singles action began Akser opened the scores with a 6-1, 6-4 straight set win over MacDowell. Teammate and 51st-ranked Bandres then added to the ETSU lead with a 6-1, 7-5 victory of Rojas at No. 4.

Buc junior Grega Teraz (Mojstrana, Slovenia) closed out the win as he took on Turner in No. 2 singles action. The 82nd-ranked ETSU second-year player dropped the Elon senior 6-2, 6-1 running the ETSU score to 4-0.

Fellow junior Charles Bottoni (Bois Guillaume, France) widened the ETSU margin to 5-0 after the 89th-ranked Buc outlasted Phillip Nemec 6-1, 7-6 (12-10).

After Chase Helpingstine of the Phoenix dropped Gille in a long three-set match, sophomore Jeremy Bonnevalle (Keerbergren, Belgium) picked up his second win of the season over Carlos Arboldea with a 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (10-7).

“The momentum that carried over from doubles was a huge advantage in singles,” said Zaatini. “All our guys played extremely hard. The respect they gave each of Elon’s players were vital because that helped us stay focused and not let them comeback in any way.

Overall, I’m very pleased with this weekend’s effort. Anytime you beat two opponents like Elon and William and Mary on back-to-back days, it’s only going to help built the team’s confidence as we move forward.”

ETSU returns to action with a pair of road matches next weekend, starting with a 2 p.m., contest Saturday against No. 67 Mississippi State in Seattle.

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