Ospreys bruise Bethune-Cookman

Saturday, January 24

Daytona Beach, Fla.

11 a.m.

University of North Florida

Bethune-Cookman

Sophomore Graham Edgar won 6-0, 6-3 in singles action

1/24/2009 4:28:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

UNF opens its home schedule Sunday against Georgia State at 11 a.m.

By: Adam Jonson, UNF Athletics

Box Score

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The University of North Florida men's tennis team looked past the unfavorable conditions on Saturday to open the 2009 season in favorable fashion, easing past Bethune-Cookman 7-0.

“I am glad we went through the first match of the season with intensity and without giving anything for free,” UNF head coach Igal Buberman said. “The courts were fast and it was windy but we kept our focus and did what we needed to do in order to improve our personal game.”

UNF (1-0) set the tone early when junior Federico Levi and freshman Marc Misanovic' teamed to post an 8-1 win at the top doubles spot against BCU's (0-1) Emil Vassilev and Christian Cruz. Junior Kurt Gattiker and freshman Marcos Chiaretti didn't have much more trouble knocking off Yannick Jackson and Greg Streat, 8-2, to capture the doubles point. The Eagles stole one decision in the match when Stefan James and Kristofer Martin squeaked past junior Ronnie Sang and sophomore Graham Edgar by a score of 8-7.

Levi remained at the No. 1 position for singles and laid the groundwork for the Ospreys in individual action. He rolled past Jackson in straight sets (6-3, 6-1), which set the example for the next four singles slots.

The Ospreys won all but one singles match in straight sets. In the No. 2 position, Vassilev gave Misanovic' the closest straight-set singles match of the day, forcing both sets to extra games. Misanovic' responded to the pressure and earned the point with a 7-5, 7-5 win.

Gattiker posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory over James in the third position and Chiaretti breezed past Cruz for the fourth position point (6-2, 6-0). Edgar completed UNF's straight-set singles wins in the fifth slot, notching a 6-0, 6-3 win over Martin.

Sang struggled early in his No. 6 singles match, dropping the first set 6-3 to Streat. He rebounded with a 6-4 second-set win and took the tiebreaker 10-5 to give the Ospreys the match sweep.

“One key to our season will be sticking together and utilizing every possible opportunity to become better competitors,” Buberman said. “Georgia State plays at a different level than Bethune but the concept is the same. We are going into the match with plans to work on our tennis.”

UNF opens its 2009 home slate tomorrow when Georgia State visits the UNF Tennis Complex for an 11 a.m. match.