Sunday, April 20, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 20, 2008) - In a match that came down to the two ETSU seniors the Lady Bucs fell, 4-2 in a heartbreaker to Jacksonville in the Atlantic Sun championship match. The end their season at 14-11 while the Dolphins clinch the NCAA berth for the second consecutive season.

Jacksonville claimed the doubles point in the No. 1 and 3 positions. In the third position Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) and Whitney Trotter (Guadalajara, Mexico) fell to Lina Xu and Juliana Umeki, 8-4. In the top position Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) fell 8-6 to Iva Jaresova and Tatiana Soldatova.

The Dophins quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead as they picked up wins in the No. 1 and No. 6 positions. Hampered by a lingering knee injury Yevgeniya Stupak fell to Lina Xu, 6-3, 6-0 in the top position, while Tara Sheets (Gate City, Va.) fell to Fernanda Carrero, 6-1, 6-4 in the sixth slot.

However, the Lady Bucs continued to battle and closed the gap to 3-2 as freshman Andra Voinea (Brasov, Romania) dropped Iva Jaresova, 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 5 position. Junior Tara Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) picked up her third victory of the tournament defeating Tatiana Soldatova, 6-4, 6-1 in the No. 3 slot.

With the match at 3-2 seniors Olya Batsula and Elena Volobueva were left on the court for the Lady Bucs. Olya Batsula was leading after dropping the first set to Lena Willi, when she began to cramp up. The match was called when Batsula had to retire. Rallying from a set down senior Elena Volobueva split sets with Juliana Umeki and was in the third set when the match was called.

Two members of the Lady Bucs squad, Tara Byrne and Andra Voinea were named to the All-Tournament team. Tara Byrne won three matches during the tournament and finishes the season with a 27-12 overall record, while Voinea collected one tournament win and finishes her rookie season with a 23-14 record. Keep up with all ETSU women's tennis action throughout the summer months and into the 2008-09 season by visiting www.ETSUBucs.com.

JU 4, ETSU 2 

Singles

No. 1- Lina Xu (JU) def. #96 Yevgeniya Stupak (ETSU) 6-3, 6-0

No. 2- Lena Willi (JU) def. Olya Batsula (ETSU) ret. inj.  

No. 3- Tara Byrne (ETSU) def. Tatiana Soldatova (JU) 6-4, 6-1

No. 4- Juliana Umeki (JU) vs. Elena Volobueva (ETSU) DNF

No. 5- Andra Voinea (ETSU) def. Iva Jaresova (JU) 6-2, 6-1

No. 6- Fernanda Carrero (JU) def. Tara Sheets (ETSU) 6-1, 6-4

Doubles

No. 1- Jaresova/Soldatova (JU) def. Stupak/Batsula (ETSU) 8-6

No. 2- Byrne/Moskaliova (ETSU) def. Willi/Carrero (JU) DNF

No. 3- Xu/Umeki (JU) def. Volobueva/Trotter (ETSU) 8-4