Box Score JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- The University of North Florida men's tennis team fell in heartbreaking fashion on Sunday afternoon, as it lost in the Atlantic Sun Conference Men's Tennis Tournament Finals to East Tennessee State, 4-2.
 
The match began with a fiery, hard-fought doubles point that saw UNF start the match in a 1-0 hole for just the second time in its last 14 matches.
 
After ETSU earned an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles, seniors Leonardo Nahar and Daniel Sotomarino battled for an 8-5 victory of their own at No. 3 to even things up. Senior Moritz Buerchner and sophomore Norbert Nemcsek fought back from a 7-4 deficit to force a tiebreak at 8-8 before dropping a difficult 7-4 decision in the breaker that put the Bucs up 1-0 in the match.
 
“All the credit goes to ETSU for playing an incredible match today,” Head Coach Adam Schaechterle said. “They played a little better in the big moments and they earned the victory. We expected the match to be an absolute war and we expected the doubles point to be crucial. It turned out to be the difference.”
 
UNF put themselves back on top early in singles play on the backs of two seniors. Buerchner, UNF's top player throughout the 2013 campaign, opened the action with a dominant 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 1 that drew the Ospreys level. After a hard-fought opening set, the senior opened the second set by winning five straight games to polish off Jesus Bandres.
 
Belair gave the Ospreys their only lead of the match minutes later, grabbing a 6-2, 7-5 victory at No. 3 that put UNF on top, 2-1. With the victory, Belair will end his season with a 15-match singles winning streak that dates back to a February 21 home contest against No. 20 Baylor. Belair did not drop a set over the course of his winning streak, capturing 30 in a row en route to the longest streak in UNF history.
 
ETSU responded quickly, with victories at No. 5 and No. 6 to take a 3-2 lead. While sophomore Norbert Nemcsek was up a set and led 3-2 in the second, the Bucs were able to knock off senior Daniel Sotomarino at No. 2 in the hardest-fought match of the day. With the win, ETSU took a 4-2 lead and clinched its seventh-straight A-Sun Tournament Championship.

Following the match, both Buerchner and Belair were named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
“I'm just heartbroken for our seniors,” Schaechterle said. “They have done so much for this program over their four years here and they deserved to go with a title. I'm incredibly proud of them.”
 
The Ospreys wrap up their 2013 season with a 15-8 overall record, a campaign that included matches against 12 nationally-ranked teams, as well as a flawless 8-0 record in A-Sun play that gave them their first-ever outright Atlantic Sun Regular Season Championship. UNF placed three players on the All-Atlantic Sun First Team for the first time in program history, as Buerchner, senior Daniel Sotomarino and Belair all grabbed a spot on the conference's top postseason award list.
 
On the year, UNF had a 78-56 dual match record in singles play, good for a .582 winning percentage. The Ospreys also tallied a 24-13 record in doubles play, a fantastic .648 clip that saw UNF win 12 of the 14 doubles points to end the season.
 
Complete Results
 
(2) ETSU 4, #67 (1) North Florida 2
 
Singles competition
1. Moritz Buerchner (UNF) def. Jesus Bandres (ETSU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Rogerio Ribeiro (ETSU) def. Daniel Sotomarino (UNF) 6-3, 6-4
3. Julien Belair (UNF) def. Juan Ramirez (ETSU) 6-2, 7-5
4. Jorge Varon (ETSU) vs. Norbert Nemcsek (UNF) 6-7 (3-7), 2-3, unfinished
5. Roger Ordeig (ETSU) def. Leonardo Nahar (UNF) 6-3, 6-3
6. Ricardo Pabon (ETSU) def. Timo Kranz (UNF) 6-2, 6-1
 
Doubles competition
1. Jesus Bandres/Rogerio Ribeiro (ETSU) def. Moritz Buerchner/Norbert Nemcsek (UNF) 9-8 (7-4)
2. Juan Ramirez/Jorge Varon (ETSU) def. Julien Belair/Timo Kranz (UNF) 8-5
3. Leonardo Nahar/Daniel Sotomarino (UNF) def. Ricardo Pabon/Roger Ordeig (ETSU) 8-5
 
Match Notes:
(1) North Florida 15-8, 8-0 A-Sun; National ranking #67
(2) ETSU 13-6, 7-1 A-Sun
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,3,6,5,2)
2013 Atlantic Sun Men's Tennis Tournament Championship
Finals
Official: Walt Williams  T-3:22  A-285