DeLAND, Fla. – Third-seeded University of North Florida men's tennis team shook off the loss of the doubles point to win four straight singles matches and defeat sixth-seeded Belmont, 4-1, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Sun Conference Men's Tennis Championships Thursday afternoon at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center on the campus of Stetson.
Freshman Taylor Albrecht won in both singles and doubles for the Ospreys, who earned the victory in their first postseason match as NCAA Division I members.
Down 1-0 starting the singles matches, UNF reeled off four consecutive straight-set victories to advance to the semifinals. Albrecht got it started with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Rafael Matos at No. 4; freshman Moritz Buerchner (6-2, 6-1 over Joao Paoliello at No. 1) and Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year Daniel Sotomarino (7-6, 6-0 at #2 over Renato Antun) kept the momentum rolling. Junior Hleb Maslau finished off Rodrigo Amaral and the Bruins 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.
Belmont earned two hard-fought doubles victories to go up 1-0 in the early going. Antun and Matos defeated Maslau and Sotomarino, 8-4, at the top of the lineup while Paoliello and Felipe Cirne Lima edged Buerchner and Leonardo Nahar 9-7 on Court No. 3.
The Ospreys advance to Friday's semifinals where they will take on host Stetson, the No. 2 seed, at 11:30 a.m. in the second match of the day. Top-seeded ETSU faces fourth-seeded Campbell to lead off the day at 9 a.m.
Tennis Match Results
Belmont vs. North Florida
April 15, 2010 at DeLand, Fla.
North Florida 4, Belmont 1
Singles
3. Hleb Maslau (UNF) def. Rodrigo Amaral (Belmont) 6-2, 6-3
5. Leonardo Nahar (UNF) vs. Felipe Cirne Lima (Belmont) 6-3, 1-4, unfinished
6. Graham Edgar (UNF) vs. Bruno Silva (Belmont) 6-4, 4-4, unfinished
Doubles
1. Antun / Matos (Belmont) def. Maslau / Sotomarino (UNF), 8-4
2. Gattiker / Albrecht (UNF) def. Silva / Murrell (Belmont), 8-2
3. Paoliello / Cirne Lima (Belmont) def. Nahar / Buerchner (UNF), 9-7
Match Notes:
Belmont (8-12)
North Florida (18-7)
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1, 3); Singles (4, 1, 2, 3)
