March 29, 2006

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Old Dominion, owner of a No. 65 national rank and winners of nine of its last ten matches, picked up a 6-1 non-conference men's tennis victory over East Carolina Wednesday afternoon at Huntington Park.

The win upped the Monarchs' mark to 18-7 overall this season while dropping ECU's spring ledger to 8-10.

The match began with ODU taking the doubles points with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 matchups. The top-seeded doubles duo of Harel Srugo and Alex Seleznev allowed only one game in their 8-1 win over Ricardo Barone and Aleksey Kochetov, while at the No. 3 spot, Eidy Igarashi and Matt Sands combined to edge out the Pirates' Henrique Viana and Mike Catalano 8-5. ECU captured the No. 2 event after Nick Rose and Brian Walters posted an 8-6 triumph over Nate Grover and Rodrigo Souza.

In singles play, Old Dominion took five of six matches in straight-set fashion to secure the team win.

No. 29 Srugo, playing at No. 1, earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Viana while fellow ranked Monarch, No. 78 Igarashi, played his way to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kochetov. After ECU tallied it's only singles victory when Barone rallied past Seleznnev 0-6, 6-4, 1-0 (8) at the No. 3 position ODU claimed the last three matches as Souza defeated Rose (6-1, 6-4) at No. 4, Sands cruised past Walters (6-2, 6-3) at No. 5 and Dom Manilla handed Catalano a 6-4, 6-1 setback at No. 6.

The Pirates, who have now completed their 2006 regular season road schedule, will return to action Wednesday, April 5 when they host High Point in a 2:00 p.m. match at the ECU Tennis Complex.

No. 65 OLD DOMINION 6, EAST CAROLINA 1
Singles Play
No. 1 - No. 29 Harel Srugo (ODU) def. Henrique Viana (ECU); 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 - No. 78 Eidy Igarashi (ODU) def. Aleksey Kochetov (ECU); 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 - Ricardo Barone (ECU) def. Alex Seleznev (ODU); 0-6, 6-4, 1-0 (8)
No. 4 - Rodrigo Souza (ODU) def. Nick Rose (ECU); 6-1, 6-4
No. 5 - Matt Sands (ODU) def. Brian Walters (ECU); 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 - Dom Manilla (ODU) def. Mike Catalano (ECU); 6-4, 6-1
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Seleznev/Srugo (ODU) def. Barone/Kochetov (ECU); 8-1
No. 2 - Rose/Walters (ECU) def. Nate Grover/Souza (ODU); 8-6
No. 3 - Igarashi/Sands (ODU) def. Catalano/Viana (ECU); 8-5
Team Records: East Carolina (8-10), Old Dominion (18-7)