Wednesday, April 13, 2011

MACON, Ga. – With the 2011 Atlantic Sun Men’s Tennis Championship set to begin Thursday, April 14th on the campus of Stetson University at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center, top-seeded and co-regular season champion UNF stands in the way of ETSU in their pursuit of five-straight tournament titles, which would surpass UALR (1985-88) for the longest streak.

The Ospreys square off with the winner of the Stetson/Mercer quarterfinal match, which jumpstarts the tournament on Thursday at 2 p.m. UNF features two unanimous First Team All-Atlantic Sun members in Hleb Maslau and Moritz Buerchner. Maslau earned his first A-Sun honor with a 9-1 record in conference play including a 5-0 mark at No. 1 singles, while Buerchner picked up his second first-team selection with an 8-1 league mark.

The Hatters finished as the runner-up in the past five championships and are searching for their first A-Sun men’s tennis title, while the Bears return to the tournament after missing out last season. Njal Stene appeared on the first team for the Hatters with a 4-1 A-Sun record at No. 3 singles, while his teammate Cesare Gallo received second team honors.

Mercer claimed the regular-season meeting against Stetson with a 5-2 triumph in Macon on March 11th, but since that loss the Hatters have earned eight victories. The Bears were led throughout the season by David Barton, Pierre Tafelski and all-freshman team member Guilherme Frias.

ETSU awaits the winner of No. 3 Campbell and No. 6 Lipscomb, who face one another at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Three Bucs’ names appeared on the first team all-conference as Sander Gille, Jesus Bandres and Grega Teraz adorned the team following a 9-1 conference record and 15-6 overall. For Gille and Teraz, it is their second-straight first team honors, while Bandres followed up his all-freshman season last year to land on the first team.

The Camels finished the regular season with a 16-4 overall mark and 7-3 in conference play behind the efforts of the 2011 Player of the Year, Davy Sum, and the Freshman of the Year, Fernando Guillen. Sum wrapped up his senior regular season with a 20-0 mark at No. 1 singles, while Guillen started his career with a 15-5 record playing mostly at No. 3 singles.

The Bisons are in search of their first A-Sun Semifinal appearance in program history and will need to enact revenge on the Camels, who won the regular season match, 6-1, in early April. Sophomore and first team all-conference member, Oliver Strecker leads the Bisons’ charge with an 11-6 record at No. 1 singles, while Tanner Brown and Miguel Cortez both added 5-4 marks in conference play.

Live viewing of courts 1, 2 and 3 can be seen throughout the championship on Hatter Vision.

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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 five 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.