Thursday, April 15, 2010

DeLAND, FL – Third-seeded UNF shook off the loss of the doubles point to win four straight singles matches and defeat sixth-seeded Belmont 4-1 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Sun Conference Men’s Tennis Championships Thursday afternoon at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. Taylor Albrecht won in both singles and doubles for the Ospreys, who earned the victory in their first postseason match as NCAA Division I members.

Down 1-0 starting the singles matches, UNF reeled off four consecutive straight-set victories to advance to the semifinals. Albrecht got it started with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Rafael Matos at #4; Moritz Buerchner (6-2, 6-1 over Joao Paoliello at #1) and Daniel Sotomarino (7-6, 6-0 at #2 over Renato Antun) kept the momentum rolling. Hleb Maslau finished off Rodrigo Amaral and the Bruins 6-2, 6-3 at #3 singles.

Belmont earned two hard-fought doubles victories to go up 1-0 in the early going. Antun and Matos defeated Maslau and Sotomarino 8-4 at the top of the lineup while Paoliello and Felipe Cirne Lima edged Buerchner and Leonardo Nahar 9-7 on Court #3.

The Ospreys advance to Friday’s semifinals where they will take on host Stetson, the #2 seed, at 11:30 a.m. in the second match of the day. Top-seeded ETSU faces fourth-seeded Campbell to lead off the day at 9 a.m. Fans can follow the Atlantic Sun on Twitter and on Facebook. Visit twitter.com/AtlanticSun to begin receiving updates on conference news, weekly awards, and from A-Sun championships. Atlantic Sun followers with a Facebook account can become a "fan" of the conference by visiting facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.