COLUMBIA, S.C. (January 24, 2007) - The ETSU women's tennis team fell to the No. 38 South Carolina Gamecocks today, 6-1 at the USC Field House in Columbia. ETSU falls to 2-3 on the year while South Carolina improves to 1-0.

The Gamecocks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as they took the doubles point. Vita Moskaliova (Minsk, Belarus) and Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) fell to the duo of Christyn Lucas and Natasa Vuckovic in the No. 3 position, 8-0 , while Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) and Tara Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) fell to Laura Ganzer and Megan McGavock, 8-3 in the No. 2 position. The Lady Bucs picked up a win in the No. 1 position as Masha Ilina (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) defeated Gira Schofield and Ana Marija Zubori, 8-6.

The Lady Bucs then tied the match up at 1-1 as senior Masha Ilina defeated Natasa Vuckkovic 6-4, 6-3 in the No. 3 position. In the No. 2 position Olya Batsula fell to Ana Marija Zubori, 6-3, 6-3, while sophomore Tara Byrne fell to Laura Ganzer in the No. 4 position, 6-1, 6-4. In No. 1 singles Yevgeniya Stupak fell to Gira Schofield, 6-2, 6-3, as Vita Moskaliova fell to Miranda Gutierrez, 6-2, 6-2. Junior Elena Volobueva fell in the No. 5 position after a hard fought match to Christyn Lucas, 6-3, 7-5.

"I really thought that this was a match we could win. The girls really played well and Yevgeniya, Tara and Elena almost took their matches to the third set. I think that some of the girls got kind of cold because there were only four courts," said head coach Steve Brooks. "Overall I thought they played really well and I was proud of their effort today."

The Lady Bucs will continue their road-swing as they travel to Williamsburg, Va. to take on the William and Mary Tribe. Follow all ETSU women's tennis action at www.etsubucs.com.

No. 38 South Carolina 6, ETSU 1

Singles

No. 1- Gira Schofield (USC) def. Yevgeniya Stupak (ETSU) 6-2, 6-3

No. 2- Ana Marija Zubori (USC) def. Olya Batsula (ETSU) 6-3, 6-3

No. 3- Masha Ilina (ETSU) def. Natasa Vuckovic (USC) 6-4, 6-3

No. 4- Laura Ganzer (USC) def. Tara Byrne (ETSU) 6-1, 6-4

No. 5- Christyn Lucas (USC) def. Elena Volobueva (ETSU) 6-3, 7-5

No. 6- Miranda Gutierrez (USC) def. Vita Moskaliova (ETSU) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles

No. 1- Ilina/Stupak (ETSU) def. Schofield/Zubori (USC) 8-6

No. 2- Ganzer/McGavock (USC) def. Byrne/Batsula (ETSU) 8-3

No. 3- Lucas/Vuckovic (USC) def. Volobueva/Moskaliova (ETSU) 8-0