Friday, April 16, 2010
ETSU looks for its third trip to the NCAA Tournament Saturday
DeLAND, Fla. (April 16, 2010) - For the second straight year the No. 70 ETSU women's tennis team will head to Championship Saturday after the Lady Bucs opened their 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament with a 4-0 semifinal win over fourth-seeded Campbell late Friday night at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center at Stetson University.
ETSU (16-4) breezed through the doubles portion of the match after two Lady Bucs teams rolled to relatively easy victories. At No. 1 doubles senior Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) and junior Kelly Holtzhausen (Johannesburg, South Africa) quickly defeated CU's Lisa Sutton and Borislava Nikolova 8-1, while at the No. 3 slot junior Tara Sheets (Gate City, Va.) and freshman Diana Navrostska (Kviv, Ukraine) closed out the point with an 8-3 victory over Blanca Saenz and Anais Gomar.
After the Lady Bucs took the 1-0 lead Stupak wasted no time taking the ETSU advantage to two love with a 6-1, 6-0 straight set win over Sutton in the top singles position. In fact it was the second time this spring that the unanimous ETSU All-Conference selection defeated the Fighting Camel junior. Also with her victory Friday the Kyiv, Ukraine native now has 108 career wins which validates her as ETSU's all-time wins leader moving her past former teammate and great Tara Byrne.
With the Lady Bucs lead at 2-0 junior Andra Voniea (Brasov, Romania) then extended the score with a victory over Anais Gomar at No. 6. After taking the first set 6-2 the Second-Team A-Sun All-Conference member rolled in the second frame 6-3.
Needing only one more win to clinch its bid into the finals Navrostska - who is playing in her first career postseason tournament - closed out Ana Surviladze in the No. 5 singles postion. The ETSU newcomer rolled in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.
With Friday's win ETSU will face second-seeded North Florida in a rematch of the A-Sun Regular Season Championship Saturday at 2 p.m. Two weeks ago the Lady Bucs finished their unbeaten conference season with a 5-2 victory over the Lady Ospreys in Johnson City.
Attached above are post-match quotes from head coach Steve Brooks, and Yevgeniya Stupak, in addition to the conference photo gallery that feature's action shots from tonight's contest.
Doubles
Stupak/Holtzhausen (ETSU) def. Sutton/Nikolova (CU) 8-1
Jaime/Kedzo (ETSU) def. Garcia/Surviladze (CU) 8-5
Navrosksta/Sheets (ETSU) def. Saenz/Gomar (CU) 8-3
Singles
Stupak (ETSU) def. Sutton (CU) 6-1, 6-2
Holtzhausen (ETSU) def. Garcia (CU) 7-5, 3-0
Jaime (ETSU) def. Saenz (CU) 6-3, 2-1
Kedzo (ETSU) def. Nikolova (CU) 6-3, 4-3
Navrosksta (ETSU) def. Surviladze (CU) def. 6-2, 6-1
Voinea (ETSU) def. Gomar (CU) 6-2, 6-2
For more information on the ETSU women's tennis team please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.
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