Feb. 27, 2009

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina benefitted from four straight-set wins at the No. 2, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles slots and secured the doubles point to hand The Citadel a 5-2 non-conference setback Friday afternoon at the ECU Tennis Complex.

The Pirates have now opened the 2009 campaign with seven victories in their first eight matches, while the Bulldogs dropped to 2-3.

East Carolina opened the match by sweeping three doubles battles to capture the opening point. Aleksey Kochetov and Henrik Skalmerud posted the first victory with an 8-4 defeat of Joshua Cook and Martin King at No. 2 before Bryan Oakley and Stephen Whitwell fought past Alberto Diaz and Derek Dickey 8-5 at No. 3 to clinch the tally. Denis Ermilov and Jaroslav Horvath closed out pairs play by adding an 8-6 win over Michael Kociecki and Yufo Sutantio at the top slot.

The Pirates wrapped up the triumph in singles play, capturing four of six matchups. Whitwell dismissed Diaz (6-1, 6-1) at No. 2 and Skalmerud handled King (6-0, 6-1) at No. 4 before Kochetov and Oakley added identical 6-1, 6-3 victories over Tripp Larkin and Dickey at the No. 5 and 6 slots, respectively.

The wins improved Oakley (8-0) and Whitwell's (7-1) combined singles record to 15-1 this season.

The Bulldogs' two victories came at the No. 1 and No. 3 flights as Sutantio upended Horvath 7-6, 6-4 and Kociecki cruised past Ermilov 6-3, 6-0.

The Pirates will return to action Saturday when they will meet Richmond at 10:30 a.m. inside the UNC Indoor Tennis Center in Chapel Hill. The match, previously scheduled for 3 p.m. in Greenville, was moved because of the forecast of inclement weather.

EAST CAROLINA 5, THE CITADEL 2
Singles Play
No. 1 - Yufo Sutantio (CIT) def. Jaroslav Horvath (ECU); 7-6, 6-4
No. 2 - Stephen Whitwell (ECU) def. Alberto Diaz (CIT); 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 - Michael Kociecki (CIT) def. Denis Ermilov (ECU); 6-3, 6-0
No. 4 - Henrik Skalmerud (ECU) def. Martin King (CIT); 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 - Aleksey Kochetov (ECU) def. Tripp Larkin (CIT); 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 - Bryan Oakley (ECU) def. Derek Dickey (CIT); 6-1, 6-3
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Ermilov/Horvath (ECU) def. Kociecki/Sutantio (CIT); 8-6
No. 2 - Kochetov/Skalmerud (ECU) def. Joshua Cook/King (CIT); 8-4
No. 3 - Oakley/Whitwell (ECU) def. Diaz/Dickey (CIT); 8-5
Team Records: The Citadel 2-3, East Carolina 7-1