Tuesday, March 08, 2005

DELAND, Fla. (Mar. 8, 2005) - The East Tennessee State women's tennis team fell to Stetson University on Tuesday afternoon in a 4-3 decision. The loss breaks ETSU's nine match winning streak. The Buccaneers' record now stands at 9-3 overall, 3-0 in the SoCon, while the Hatters record improves to 9-3 overall.

            The Bucs opened up by sweeping all three matches in doubles for the critical doubles point. Sandie Knight (Adamstown, Australia) and Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) paired at No.2 and defeated Marina Levin and Catherine Canady 8-4 for the first win. Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) and Gemma Halim (Jakarta, Indonesia) of ETSU then clinched the point with a 9-8 (7-3) win at No. 3 over Jackie Bohannon and Anna Leonenko. Masha Ilina (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Sylwia Ziolkowska (Warsaw, Poland) would wrap up doubles play by winning their match at No. 1 against Maja Miladinovic and Milica Milovanovic, 9-8 (3).

            In singles action, ETSU was only able to secure two points from Knight at No. 3 (6-2, 6-3) and Batsula at No. 5 (6-3, 6-4), which would not be enough to top the Hatters.

            "We let one slip away from us today," stated head coach Steve Brooks. "It's a tough loss when you win the doubles point and are up a set in four of the singles matches and can't pull it out."

                East Tennessee State continues road competition as they travel to Jacksonville Fla. on March 10 to pair up against future A-Sun opponent Jacksonville University at 1:00 p.m.

"Stetson is a tough team and Jacksonville is even tougher," said Brooks. "We have our work cut out for us, and I look for the upperclassmen to become more mentally tough and bring the team together to lead us back to winning."

East Tennessee State 3, Stetson University 4

Doubles

1. Ilina/Ziolkowska (ETSU) d. Maja Miladinovic/Milica Milovanovic (SU) 9-8 (3)

2. Knight/Volobueva (ETSU) d. Marina Levin/Catherine Canady (SU) 8-4

3. Batsula/Halim (ETSU) d. Jackie Bohannon/Anna Leonenko (SU) 9-8 (7-3)

Order of Finish: 2,3,1

Singles

1. Jackie Bohannon (SU) d. Masha Ilina (ETSU) 0-6, 6-3, 6-4

2. Milica Milovanovic (SU) d. Elena Volobueva (ETSU) 6-2, 6-3

3. Sandie Knight (ETSU) d. Maja Miladinovic (SU) 6-1, 6-2

4. Marina Levin (SU) d. Sylwia Ziolkowska (ETSU) 6-3, 6-0

5. Olya Batsula (ETSU) d. Anna Leonenko (SU) 6-3, 6-4

6. Catherine Canady (SU) d. Muriel Sherwood (ETSU) 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3

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

* - Clinching Point