April 4, 2008

GREENVILLE, N.C. - South Carolina State rallied back after dropping the doubles point to win four of six singles matches and post a 4-3 non-conference victory over East Carolina Friday afternoon at the ECU Tennis Complex.

The Pirates (13-8) used 8-4 and 8-1 wins by duos Aleksey Kochetov and Henrik Skalmerud at No. 2 and Bryan Oakley and Stephen Whitwell at No. 3, respectively, to jump out to an early 1-0 lead.

Henrique Viana and Whitwell turned in ECU's only singles wins by defeating Dimitry Lomakin (6-0, retired) at the No. 2 slot and Gabriel Meana (6-2, 4-0, retired) at the No. 4 position but the Bulldogs (12-2) quickly took control of the match by rolling off four straight victories.

After South Carolina State's Radek Pivonka and Tomas Dobrotka scored straight-set wins in the No. 3 and 6 singles matchups, the Bulldogs' Ivan Milivojevich overcame a first-set loss to Jaroslav Horvath to hand the ECU freshman a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 setback at No. 1 to tie the match. David Grund followed by outlasting Skalmerud 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 in a No. 5 matchup to clinch the victory for SCSU. Earlier, Pivonka knocked off Kochetov (7-5, 7-6) and Dobrotka cruised past Oakley (6-3, 6-1).

The Pirates will close out their brief two-match homestand Sunday by hosting Davidson in non-conference action beginning at 12 noon

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 4, EAST CAROLINA 3
Singles Play
No. 1 - Ivan Milivojevic (SCSU) def. Jaroslav Horvath (ECU); 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
No. 2 - Henrique Viana (ECU) def. Dimitry Lomakin (SCSU); 6-0, retired
No. 3 - Radek Pivonka (SCSU) vs. Aleksey Kochetov (ECU); 7-5, 7-6 (2)
No. 4 - Stephen Whitwell (ECU) def. Gabriel Meana (SCSU); 6-2, 4-0 retired
No. 5 - David Grund (SCSU) def. Henrik Skalmerud (ECU); 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2)
No. 6 - Tomas Dobrotka (SCSU) def. Bryan Oakley (ECU); 6-3, 6-1
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Viana/Horvath (ECU) vs. Meana/Pivonka (SCSU); 7-6 unfinished
No. 2 - Kochetov/Skalmerud (ECU) def. Dobrotka/Milivojevic (SCSU); 8-4
No. 3 - Oakley/Whitwell (ECU) def. Grund/Jan Langer (SCSU); 8-1
Team Records: South Carolina State 12-2, East Carolina 13-8