Friday, April 15, 2011

DeLAND, Fla. – A dramatic back-and-forth match saw fourth-seeded Stetson knock off 71st-ranked top-seeded UNF 4-2 in the semifinals of the Atlantic Sun Conference Men’s Tennis Championship at Mandy Stoll Tennis Center on Friday. Both the doubles point and clinching singles point went to tiebreakers as the Hatters prevailed to advance to their sixth consecutive A-Sun Championship title game.

The two teams split a pair of 8-6 decisions on Courts 1 and 3, bringing the doubles point down to Court 2 where Stetson’s Maksim Levanovich and Didrik Berg edged Moritz Buerchner and Beauregard Treyz 9-8 in a tiebreaker to give the Hatters a 1-0 advantage.

Stetson (20-9) extended its lead to 3-0 in the early portion of singles as Levanovich dropped Hleb Maslau 6-0, 6-3 on Court 1 and Alex Hackett defeated Treyz 6-3, 6-3 on Court 5. UNF put the pressure on as the Ospreys (16-7) earned points from Buerchner (7-6, 6-3 against Njal Stene on Court 2) and Leonardo Nahar (6-3, 6-2 on Court 6 against Hans Adrian Riseng) to cut the Stetson lead to 3-2.

Two simultaneous tie-breakers on Courts 3 and 5 enthralled the large crowd on hand to witness the first upset of the top seed by a fourth seed at the A-Sun Men’s Tennis Championship since 2006 and only the second since 1996. Cesare Gallo finally put the clinching fourth point in Stetson’s column, sinking Daniel Sotomarino 6-4, 7-6 on Court 3. Stetson’s Didrik Berg also stood just one point from doing likewise in an unfinished 3-6, 6-4, 6-6 thriller with UNF’s Pedro Davisson when play was called due to time constraints.

Stetson will take on either second-seeded ETSU or third-seeded Campbell at 1 p.m. tomorrow with the A-Sun title on the line. The Hatters seek their first championship in school history.

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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.