April 6, 2008

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Davidson and East Carolina split six singles matches but the Wildcats swept doubles play by capturing all three pro-sets to hand the Pirates a 4-3 non-conference setback Sunday afternoon at the ECU Tennis Complex.

East Carolina, which also dropped a 4-3 decision to South Carolina State Friday, falls to 13-9 on the year while the Wildcats improved their dual match record to 14-5.

Davidson set the tone early as Phillip Compeau and Eric Noble teamed up for an 8-3 triumph over Aleksey Kochetov and Henrik Skalmerud at the No. 2 position. The Wildcats followed by adding 8-6 and 8-7 (4) wins by Ethan Jaffee/Flaviu Simihaian and Sam Burns/Walker Lyons over Jaroslav Horvath/Henrique Viana and Bryan Oakley/Stephen Whitwell at No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, to take a 1-0 lead.

In singles play, ECU picked up victories at the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 6 slots as Viana rolled past Noble (6-3, 6-1), Whitwell disposed of Jaffee (6-0, 6-1) and Oakley rallied past Scott Myers (4-6, 6-3, 7-5).

The Wildcats used a 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) win by Simihaian over Horvath at No. 1 to clinch the match after Lyons defeated Kochetov (7-5, 1-6, 6-2) at No. 4 and Burns dispatched Skalmerud in straight sets (6-3, 6-3) at the No. 5 position.

East Carolina will return to action Wednesday when it travels to Elon to face a nationally-ranked Phoenix squad in a non-conference meeting beginning at 3 p.m.

DAVIDSON 4, EAST CAROLINA 3
Singles Play
No. 1 - Flaviu Simihaian (DAV) def. Jaroslav Horvath (ECU); 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3)
No. 2 - Henrique Viana (ECU) def. Eric Noble (DAV); 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 - Stephen Whitwell (ECU) def. Ethan Jaffee (DAV); 6-0, 6-1
No. 4 - Walker Lyons (DAV) def. Aleksey Kochetov (ECU); 7-5, 1-6, 6-2
No. 5 - Sam Burns (DAV) def. Henrik Skalmerud (ECU); 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 - Bryan Oakley (ECU) def. Scott Myers (DAV); 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Jaffee/Simihaian (DAV) def. Horvath/Viana (ECU); 8-6
No. 2 - Phillip Compeau/Noble (DAV) def. Kochetov/Skalmerud (ECU); 8-3
No. 3 - Burns/Lyons (DAV) def. Oakley/Whitwell (ECU); 8-7 (4)
Team Records: Davidson 14-5, East Carolina 13-9