, Tenn. (Sept. 14, 2007) - The ETSU women's tennis team began play today in the St. Mary's Classic hosted by the University of Tennessee. Due to inclement weather the matches were moved indoors and all three rounds of doubles were played. Action continues Saturday with the first two rounds of singles play.

In flight two doubles, Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) cruised to an 8-3 victory over Lindsey Jones and Jo-Anne Van Aerde of Louisville in the quarterfinals before falling to Marlene Chemin and Ann-Kristen Siljestrom of MTSU, 8-4 in semifinal action. The duo garnered a fourth place finish after falling to Berkely Brock and Catherine Grotz of North Carolina State, 8-5.

Competing in the flight three doubles Tara Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) and newcomer Tara Sheets (Gate City, Va.) fell to Meg Fanjoy and Alexandra Jurewitz, 8-2 before falling to Stephanie Wooten and Joanna Craven of Purdue, 8-3 in consolation play. In the final round of consolation play Byrne and Sheets fell to Pooja Kommireddi and Andrea Herrera of MTSU, 8-4.

In flight four doubles, Vita Moskaliova (Minsk, Belarus) and Brittany Stewart (Nashville, Tenn.) fell to Elvira Yusopova and Stephanie Parkinson of MTSU, 8-4. In the first round of consolation play they earned a bye before falling to North Carolina State's Bianca Gorbea and Natalia Baez, 8-5.

Also competing in flight four Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) and Whitney Trotter (Guadalajara, Mexico) defeated Bianca Gorbea and Natalia Baez of North Carolina State, 8-6 before falling to Anna Dzeva and Alejandra Boeker of Purdue, 8-4 in the semifinals. The duo also garnered a fourth place finish after falling to Bailey Louderback and Colleen Reilley of Notre Dame, 8-6.

"Overall I felt that all of our doubles teams played well in their first matches, they were in every single one of them. This is the first tournament for most of these girls and we went up against some good opponents," said head coach Steve Brooks.

The Lady Bucs will continue play in the St. Mary's classic on Saturday at the University of Tennessee. First round of singles action is set to begin at 9 a.m. For all ETSU women's tennis action, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.

Day One Results

Flight 2

Stupak/Batsula (ETSU) def. Jones/Van Aerde (UL) 8-3

Chemin/Siljestrom (MTSU) def. Stupak/Batsula (ETSU) 8-4

Brock/Grotz (NCS) def. Stupak/Batsula (ETSU) 8-5

Flight 3

Fanjoy/Jurewitz (UNC) def. Byrne/Sheets (ETSU) 8-2

Wooten/Craven (PU) def. Byrne/Sheets (ETSU) 8-3

Kommireddi/Herrera (MTSU) def. Byrne/Sheets (ETSU) 8-4

Flight 4

Yusopova/Parkinson (MTSU) def. Moskaliova/Stewart (ETSU) 8-4

Gorbea/Baez (NCS) def. Moskaliova/Stewart (ETSU) 8-5

Volobueva/Trotter (ETSU) def. Gorbea/Baez (NCS) 8-6

Dzeva/Boeker (PU) def. Volobueva/Trotter (ETSU) 8-4

Louderback/Reilley (ND) def. Volobueva/Trotter (ETSU) 8-6