JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 2, 2005) - The Buccaneer women's tennis team defeated the Catamounts with a sweep of all seven points on Saturday afternoon on the courts in the Memorial Center.  East Tennessee State improves to 15-5 overall, 5-1 in the SoCon, while Western Carolina falls to 4-11, 0-6.

                In doubles, Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) and Gemma Halim (Jakarta, Indonesia) won the first match at No. 3 against April Yount and Susanna Sjokvist by a score of 8-0. Masha Ilina (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Sylwia Ziolkowska (Warsaw, Poland) then picked up the point for ETSU with an 8-4 win over Trish Hanson and Katherine Ptak at No. 1. Sandie Knight (Adamstown, Australia) and Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) rounded out doubles action for the Bucs at No. 2 with a win over Kristin Cotton and Ashley Harris, 8-0.

                In singles action, the Bucs took all six points in straight sets. The deciding point of the match was brought in by freshman Batsula, who defeated Harris at the fourth slot in a 6-1, 6-0 decision.

                "Western Carolina is always fun to play," stated Head Coach Steve Brooks. "We really like their coach and players because they are always fun and friendly to play against."

                ETSU continues weekend tennis action as they host SoCon opponent UT Chattanooga on tomorrow, April 3 at noon.

East Tennessee State 7, Western Carolina 0 

Doubles

1.  Ilina/Ziolkowska (ETSU) d. Hanson/Ptak (WCU) 8-4

2.  Volobueva/Knight (ETSU) d. Cotton/Harris (WCU) 8-4

3. Batsula/Halim (ETSU) d. Yount/Sjokvist (WCU) 8-0

Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2

Singles

1. Sandie Knight (ETSU) d. Trish Hanson (WCU) 6-0, 6-4

2. Masha Ilina (ETSU) d. Katherine Ptak (WCU) 6-1, 6-0

3.  Sylwia Ziolkowska (ETSU) d. Kristin Cotton (WCU)       6-0, 6-2

4. Olya Batsula (ETSU) d. Ashley Harris (WCU) 6-1, 6-0

5. Elena Volobueva  (ETSU) d. Susanna Sjokvist (WCU) 6-1, 6-3

6. Gemma Halim (ETSU) d. April Yount (WCU) 6-1, 6-0

Order of Finish: 6, 2, 4*, 3, 5, 1

* - Clinching point