Friday, April 14, 2006

MACON, Ga. - The no. 4 Belmont men's tennis squad eliminated no. 1 East Tennessee State in Friday's semifinal match, 4-2. The Bruins' win marked the first time in A-Sun history that a four seed defeated the one seed.

ETSU (19-7) jumped out to an early advantage taking the doubles' point on the heels of victories by Felix Insaurralde/Lisandro Picardo and Enrique Olivares/Sebastian Serrano.

Belmont (6-8) took the top four singles' matches highlighted by Felipe Lima's triumph at number one. Lima edged Oscar Posada 7-5, 6-4 and Fausto Rocha (no. 3) squeaked by Juan Crosa 7-5, 7-5.

Javier Rodriguez (no. 4) registered a win over Enrique Olivares in another tight match 7-5, 6-3. ETSU's Felix Insaurralde was forced to retire in the second set following a first-set tiebreaker, handing Belmont's Alex Gillott the victory.

Belmont will battle no. 2 Stetson in tomorrow's A-Sun Championship. This will be the Bruins first appearance in the Atlantic Sun men's final. The match is slated for 10 a.m.

Doubles
No. 1 Posada/Crosa (ETSU) vs. Rocha/Rodriguez (Belmont) DNF
No. 2 Insaurralde/Picardo (ETSU) def. Gesto/Gillott (Belmont) 8-5
No. 3 Olivares/Serrano (ETSU) def. Lima/Abreu (Belmont) 8-6

Singles
No. 1 Felipe Lima (Belmont) def. Oscar Posada (ETSU) 7-5, 6-4
No. 2 Alex Gillott (Belmont) def. Felix Insaurralde (ETSU) 7-6 (9-7), 3-3 retired
No. 3 Fausto Rocha (Belmont) def. Juan Crosa (ETSU) 7-5, 7-5
No. 4 Javier Rodriguez (Belmont) def. Enrique Olivares (ETSU) 7-5, 6-3
No. 5 Lisandro Picardo (ETSU) def. Ignacio Gesto (Belmont) 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 Sebastian Serrano (ETSU) vs. Felipe Abreu (Belmont) DNF

Release courtesy of Mercer Athletic Communications

Post-Match Audio

Belmont Head Coach Jim Madrugal

on upsetting No. 1 ETSU

on team's performance

Belmont senior Felipe Lima

on team's performance

ETSU Head Coach Yaser Zaatini

on team's loss

on matchup with Belmont