March 5, 2008

GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina men's tennis squad captured its third and fourth straight victories Wednesday afternoon, sweeping a split doubleheader with a 6-1 win against UNC Asheville and a 7-0 triumph over Winston-Salem State at the ECU Tennis Complex.

The pair of wins improved the Pirates' spring dual match record to 9-6 while the Bulldogs and Rams dropped to 1-5 and 1-14, respectively.

In the opener against UNC Asheville, ECU clinched the doubles point after a pair of 8-3 victories by tandems Jaroslav Horvath/Henrique Viana and Aleksey Kochetov/Henrik Skalmerud, and an 8-2 decision by Bryan Oakley/Stephen Whitwell. The Pirates followed by taking five of six singles battles to notch the team win.

Horvath, Kochetov, Skalmerud, Whitwell and Matt Peeler all came out on top in singles play at the No. 1, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 positions. Horvath rolled past Mauricio Correa (6-2, 6-3), Kochetov defeated Damien Snare (6-2, 6-1), Skalmerud dismissed Joe May (6-1, 6-4), Whitwell handled Nicholas Thuell (6-0, 6-1) and Peeler dispatched Alexander Greer (6-1, 6-0).

UNC Asheville booked its only tally when Tyler Begg outlasted Viana 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (6) in a No. 2 matchup.

Against Winston-Salem State in the second match, the Pirates quickly clinched the win by outscoring the Rams 24-0 in three doubles wins and posting 12 straight-set singles victories. Skalmerud (No. 1), Oakley (No. 2), Peeler (No. 3), David Masciorini (No. 4), Mike Catalano (No. 5) and Greg Simon (No. 6) combined to post 72-11 ledger to help ECU cruise past WSSU in convincing fashion.

The Pirates will return to action Friday when they travel to Farmville, Va., for a match against Longwood scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

EAST CAROLINA 6, UNC ASHEVILLE 1
Singles Play
No. 1 - Jaroslav Horvath (ECU) def. Mauricio Correa (UNCA); 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 - Tyler Begg (UNCA) def. Henrique Viana (ECU); 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (6)
No. 3 - Aleksey Kochetov (ECU) def. Damien Snare (UNCA); 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 - Henrik Skalmerud (ECU) def. Joe May (UNCA); 6-1, 6-4
No. 5 - Stephen Whitwell (ECU) def. Nicholas Thuell (UNCA); 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 - Matt Peeler (ECU) def. Alexander Greer (UNCA); 6-1, 6-0
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Horvath/Viana (ECU) def. Correa/Snare (UNCA); 8-3
No. 2 - Kochetov/Skalmerud (ECU) def. May/Nathan White (UNCA); 8-3
No. 3 - Oakley/Whitwell (ECU) def. Begg/Thuell (UNCA); 8-2
Team Records: UNC Asheville 1-5, East Carolina 8-6

EAST CAROLINA 7, WINSTON-SALEM STATE 0
Singles Play
No. 1 - Henrik Skalmerud (ECU) def. Brian Coxton (WSSU); 6-4, 6-0
No. 2 - Bryan Oakley (ECU) def. Maximilian Glodde (WSSU); 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 - Matt Peeler (ECU) def. Ryan Lindquist (WSSU); 6-0, 6-0
No. 4 - David Masciorini (ECU) def. Troy Moore (WSSU); 6-1, 6-0
No. 5 - Mike Catalano (ECU) def. Ian Hunter (WSSU); 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 - Greg Simon (ECU) def. Andrew Jones (WSSU); 6-1, 6-2
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Aleksey Kochetov/Skalmerud (ECU) def. Coxton/Glodde (WSSU); 8-0
No. 2 - Masciorini/Peeler (ECU) def. Lindquist/Moore (WSSU); 8-0
No. 3 - Catalano/Simon (ECU) def. Hunter/Patrick Jenkins (WSSU); 8-0
Team Records: Winston-Salem State 1-14, East Carolina 9-6