Saturday, April 15, 2006

MACON, Ga. (April 15, 2006) - The ETSU women's tennis team captured the A-Sun Tennis Tournament Championship with a 5-0 win over the No. 2 seeded Stetson Hatters on Saturday afternoon at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center. The Lady Bucs also garnered the first women's conference title since joining the Atlantic-Sun.

The day's action began with ETSU winning the doubles point. Masha Ilina (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Sylwia Ziolkowska (Warsaw, Poland) defeated Anna Leonenko and Catherine Canady, 8-5, in No. 1 doubles, while Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) and Tara Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) defeated Samantha Lange and Danielle Mollman, 8-2 in the No. 2 slot.

With a 1-0 lead, the Lady Bucs would then take four straight points to sweep Stetson. Senior Sandie Knight started things out defeating Marina Levin, 6-1, 6-0 and Olya Batsula defeated Maja Miladinovic, 6-1, 6-3 to give ETSU a 3-0 lead. Vita Moskaliova (Minsk, Belarus) and Masha Ilina finished within moments of each other. Moskaliova defeated Samantha Lange, 6-2, 6-1 and Ilina defeated Mili Milovanovic, 6-1, 6-4.

"It's just a big honor that we're able to compete in the A-Sun.  We're really excited and to have these new rivalries. We had a good time the whole way out. We've worked really hard all year and the goal was to come to this tournament. It's been a great ride and we're looking forward to competing in the A-Sun year in and year out. Overall, I'm just real proud of the effort today," said head coach Steve Brooks.

By winning the tournament, the Lady Bucs receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will wait for the announcement their first round opponent. This year's tournament will be hosted at Stanford University.

ETSU 5, Stet 0

Singles

No. 1- Masha Ilina (ETSU) def. Mili Milovanovic (Stet) 6-1, 6-4

No. 2- Olya Batsula (ETSU) def. Maja Miladinovic (Stet) 6-1, 6-3

No. 3- Sandie Knight (ETSU) def. Marina Levin (Stet) 6-1, 6-0

No. 4- Elena Volobueva (ETSU) vs. Anna Leonenko (Stet) DNF

No. 5- Tara Byrne (ETSU) vs. Catherine Canady (Stet) DNF

No. 6- Vita Moskaliova (ETSU) def. Samantha Lange (Stet) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles

No. 1- Ilina/Ziolkowska (ETSU) def. Leonenko/Canady (Stet) 8-5

No. 2- Batsula/Byrne (ETSU) def. Lange/Mollman (Stet) 8-2

No. 3- Volobueva/Knight (ETSU) vs. Milovanovic/St. Claire (Stet) DNF