Thursday, March 10, 2005

            JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Mar. 10, 2005) - The Buccaneer women's tennis team defeated future A-Sun opponents the Jacksonville University Dolphins in a 4-3 road victory Thursday afternoon. ETSU is now 10-3 overall, 3-0 SoCon, while Jacksonville is 4-7 on the season.

            The Bucs started the match by taking the doubles point. At No. 2, the pairing of Sandie Knight (Adamstown, Australia) and Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) quickly defeated Daphne Bourot and Lena Willi in an 8-1 final. ETSU then clinched the point with a win at No. 3 from Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) and Gemma Halim (Jakarta, Indonesia), who defeated Emese Sulyos and Megan Williams, 8-4. Doubles play continued, but at No. 1 Masha Ilina (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Sylwia Ziolkowska (Warsaw, Poland) fell in a tough 9-8 (5) decision to Nisrine Hajbane and Dana Antonioli.

            In singles action, the Dolphins evened the score at 1-1 with a win by Hajbane over Ziolkowska at No. 4 (6-4, 6-2). ETSU would then answer with wins from senior captain Halim at No. 6 (6-4, 6-1), and Batsula at No. 5 (6-3, 6-4). Jacksonville's Sulyos then won the point at No. 1 over Ilina (6-3, 6-2), but Volobueva would then defeat Bourot at No. 3 7-5, 6-4 to decide the match in favor of the Buccaneers, 4-3.

            "Jacksonville is a good team and they are strong in singles from top to bottom," stated head coach Steve Brooks. "Today, I was really happy for Elena because she was down 5-2, but was able to come back to win. Overall, the match is a good confidence builder as we head back into Southern Conference action."

            The Bucs return to SoCon action this Sunday, March 13 when they travel to Statesboro, Ga. to face the Georgia Southern Eagles at noon.

East Tennessee State 4, Jacksonville 3

Doubles

1. Hajbane/Willi (JU) d. Ilina/Ziolkowska (ETSU) 9-8 (5)

2. Knight/Volobueva (ETSU) d. Bourot/Antonioli (JU) 8-1

3. Batsula/Halim (ETSU) d. Sulyos/Williams (JU) 8-4

Order of Finish: 2,3,1

Singles

1. Emese Sulyos (JU) d. Masha Ilina (ETSU) 6-3, 6-2

2. Lena Willi (JU) d. Sandie Knight (ETSU) 6-2, 6-3

3. Elena Volobueva (ETSU) d. Daphne Bourot (JU) 7-5, 6-4 

4. Nisrine Hajbane (JU) d. Sylwia Ziolkowska (ETSU) 6-4, 6-2

5. Olya Batsula (ETSU) d. Dana Antonioli (JU) 6-3, 6-4

6. Gemma Halim (ETSU) d. Megan Williams (JU) 6-4, 6-1

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