Friday, April 14, 2006

MACON, Ga. - The no. 2 Stetson (19-4) men's tennis squad defeated no. 3 Mercer (13-11) in semifinal action at the Atlantic Sun Championships. The Hatters won 4-0 and advanced to tomorrow's championship match. This season marked Stetson's finest record in school history.

Stetson picked up the doubles' point for the early advantage, but singles' play contained highly competitive matches.

In singles' play, Mario Alberto Cayo notched the Hatters' second point edging Patrick Russo 7-6, 6-4. In what proved to be a back-and-forth match, Marcus Echtler came back to beat Tobias Ohrstrom in three sets. The game was decided when two-time A-Sun Player of the Week, Warren Woolfolk was forced to retire due to cramps.

Stetson will face no. 4 Belmont at 10 a.m. in Saturday's Atlantic Sun Championship. The Hatters will be making its first appearance in the A-Sun men's final.

Doubles
No. 1 Echtler/Boulanov (Stetson) vs. Ohrstrom/Woolfolk (Mercer) DNF
No. 2 Jones/Bach (Stetson) def. Gil/Mitchell (Mercer) 8-4
No. 3 Cayo/Soiland (Stetson) def. Starr/Ingram (Mercer) 8-3

Singles
No. 1 Marcus Echtler (Stetson) def. Tobias Ohrstrom (Mercer) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 Serguei Boulanov (Stetson) def. Warren Woolfolk (Mercer) 3-6, 6-3, 2-1 retired
No. 3 Joey Jones (Stetson) vs. Mario Gil (Mercer) DNF
No. 4 Mario Alberto Cayo (Stetson) def. Patrick Russo (Mercer) 7-6, 6-4
No. 5 Birger Soiland (Stetson) vs. Chapman Mitchell (Mercer) DNF
No. 6 Peter Dzuba (Stetson) vs. Nathan Starr (Mercer) DNF

Release courtesy of Mercer Athletic Communications

Post-Match Audio

Stetson Head Coach Pierre Pilote

on Stetson reaching A-Sun finals for first time

on team's contributions

Stetson sophomore Marcus Echtler

on advancing to the final

on team's season

Mercer Head Coach Nick Stutsman

General statement on match