March 11, 2008

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Senior Henrique Viana's three-set singles victory and East Carolina's doubles sweep proved to be the difference as the Pirates edged The Citadel 4-3 in non-conference men's tennis action Tuesday afternoon at the Earle Tennis Center.

ECU, which extended its current win streak to five straight, improved to 10-6 on the year while the Bulldogs dropped to 6-7.

The Pirates set the tone early as Bryan Oakley and Stephen Whitwell teamed up for an 8-2 triumph over Martin King and Frederic Petrilli at the No. 3 position. East Carolina followed by adding 8-4 and 8-6 wins by Jaroslav Horvath/Viana and Aleksey Kochetov/Henrik Skalmerud over Daniel Dossetor/Yufo Sutantio and Alberto Diaz/James Eason at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, to take a 1-0 lead.

In singles play, ECU picked up victories at the No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6 slots as Viana outlasted Sutantio (7-6, 3-6, 6-4), Whitwell defeated King (6-1, 6-0) and Oakley handled Petrilli (7-6, 6-3).

The Citadel used wins by Dossetor over Horvath (4-6, 7-6, 6-0) at No. 1, Eason over Kochetov (6-1, 6-2) at No. 3 and Diaz over Skalmerud (6-2, 4-6, 6-3) at No. 4 to capture the other three matches.

The Pirates will close out their brief two-match road swing Thursday when they visit the College of Charleston. First serve is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

EAST CAROLINA 4, THE CITADEL 3
Singles Play
No. 1 - Daniel Dossetor (CIT) def. Jaroslav Horvath (ECU); 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0
No. 2 - Henrique Viana (ECU) def. Yufo Sutantio (CIT); 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4
No. 3 - James Eason (CIT) def. Aleksey Kochetov (ECU); 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 - Alberto Diaz (CIT) def. Henrik Skalmerud (ECU); 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
No. 5 - Stephen Whitwell (ECU) def. Martin King (CIT); 6-1, 6-0
No. 6 - Bryan Oakley (ECU) def. Frederic Petrilli (CIT); 7-6 (3), 6-3
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Horvath/Viana (ECU) def. Dossetor/Sutantio (CIT); 8-4
No. 2 - Kochetov/Skalmerud (ECU) def. Diaz/Eason (CIT); 8-6
No. 3 - Oakley/Whitwell (ECU) def. King/Petrilli (CIT); 8-2
Team Records: East Carolina 10-6, The Citadel 6-7