March 18, 2008

Naples, Fla. - Playing the first of its spring break matches in Florida, the Stony Brook men's tennis team managed only a pair of singles wins and one doubles victory as the Seawolves fell to No. 59 Stetson by a 5-2 score. Sophomore Jon Epstein (Silver Spring, Md.) won a pair of matches to lead the Seawolves.

Stetson took the first point of the day with a pair of wins in doubles, where all of the matches were closely contested. Stetson won at No. 1 by an 8-5 score with the duo of Epstein and freshman Ivan Rummel (Budapest, Hungary) taking a win at No. 3 by the same score. The point was decided at No. 2 where junior Youssef Fassi-Fehri (Fes, Morocco) and sophomore Ilan Shvartz (Haifa, Israel) fell in a close 9-7 match.

Epstein picked up a quick point for Stony Brook at No. 5 singles with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Serguei Boulanov. Stetson picked up three straight sets wins at the Nos. 2, 3, and 6 positions, however, giving the Hatters enough points for the win. Freshman Artem Baradach (Minsk, Belarus) took the other point for Stony Brook, pounding out a 3-6, 7-6, 10-8 victory over Marcus Echtler at No. 1 singles.

Stony Brook will continue its play in Florida today when it plays at Florida Gulf Coast at 2:00 p.m.

#59 Stetson 5, Stony Brook 2

Doubles

1. Echtler/Kricka (STET) def. Baradach/Baldock; 8-4

2. Jones/Laalej (STET) def. Fassi-Fehri/Shvartz; 9-7

3. Epstein/Rummel (SBU) def. Swanteson/Celik; 8-5

Singles

1. Artem Baradach (SBU) def. Marcus Echtler; 3-6, 7-6, 10-8

2. Hicham Laalej (STET) def. Youssef Fassi-Fehri; 6-1, 6-3

3. Joey Jones (STET) def. Ivan Rummel; 6-4, 6-3

4. Filip Kricka (STET) def. Ilan Shvartz; 1-6, 6-3, 6-3

5. Jon Epstein (SBU) def. Serguei Boulanov; 6-0, 6-2

6. Gokay Celik (STET) def. Patrick Baldoch; 6-3, 6-4