Women's Tennis 1/30/2008 5:00:00 AM MEAC Media Relations

Wildcats Shutout in Season Debut for Men?s Tennis by Hatters, 7-0

Bethune-Cookman University men’s tennis fought hard, but in the end they were defeated by a score of 7-0 to Volusia County rival Stetson University at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center in nearby DeLand on Wednesday afternoon.

The Wildcats started off things strong in doubles play as the team of Yannick Jackson and newcomer Kristofer Martin played tough against Stetson’s duo of Bret Feldman and Hicham Laalej at the No. 3 position. The ?Cats did, eventually, fall by a score of 8-5.

Stetson (1-0) took the doubles point with a sweep of all three positions.

In singles play, B-CU (0-1) fought tough all the way, but once again it was the homestanding Hatters holding court, so to speak, with a clean sweep of all six positions.

Stefan James played tough for the ?Cats at the No. 3 position against Stetson’s Hicham Laalej but fell by a count of 6-1, 7-5 in straight sets.

B-CU’s Yannick Jackson played hard at the No. 4 position while falling to Filip Kricka on scores of 6-2, 6-3. Newcomer Emil Vassilev was impressive as well in his Wildcat debut with a 6-3, 6-2 setback to Marcus Echtler at the No. 1 position.

For Vassilev, it is sure to be a promising career at B-CU with improved play and experience on the Division I level of collegiate tennis.

The Wildcats will step back onto the court again on Saturday, Feb. 2 when they host Florida Gulf Coast University at City Island Tennis Center in Daytona Beach. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Wildcats and the Division I reclassified Eagles of FGCU. The match is set for a 2 p.m. start time.

Singles competition
1. Marcus Echtler (STET) def. VASSILEV,Emil (BCUM) 6-3, 6-2
2. Joey Jones (STET) def. CRUZ,Cristian (BCUM) 6-0, 6-1
3. Hicham Laalej (STET) def. JAMES,Stefan (BCUM) 6-1, 7-5
4. Filip Kricka (STET) def. JACKSON,Yannick (BCUM) 6-2, 6-3
5. Chris Swanteson (STET) def. WARD,Jerome (BCUM) 6-3, 6-1
6. Bret Feldman (STET) def. MARTIN,Kristofer (BCUM) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Marcus Echtler/Filip Kricka (STET) def. VASSILEV,Emil/JAMES,Stefan (BCUM) 8-0
2. Joey Jones/Chris Swanteson (STET) def. CRUZ,Cristian/WARD,Jerome (BCUM) 8-3
3. Bret Feldman/Hicham Laalej (STET) def. JACKSON,Yannick/MARTIN,Kristofer (BCUM) 8-5

Match Notes:
Bethune-Cookman 0-1
Stetson 1-0
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,6,5,1,4,3)
Bethune-Cookman drops season-opener to Stetson.
T-2:51 A-50