WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (October 25, 2008 ) - Competing against some of the top competition from around the area, the ETSU women's tennis team continued its outstanding run at the ITA Mideast Regional, Friday in Winston-Salem, N.C.

In doubles action the ETSU team of junior Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) and freshman Paula Jamie (Madrid, Spain) defeated ninth seeded Catherine Newman and Keilly Ulrey of Vanderbilt 8-7(5).  With the win the ETSU duo will now face fifth seeded Amanda Granson and Reka Zsilinskza of Duke in Saturday's quarterfinals.

"I'm really proud of both girls in this match, said head coach Steve Brooks. "Vanderbilt's two girls are good players and every time Paula (Jamie) would make a mistake Yevgeniya (Stupak) was there to back her up. In doubles tennis you need that teamwork in order to be successful and both girls did a great job of that today."

Leading the way for the Bucs in singles action was Stupak and senior Tara Byrne (Johnson City). In her first match of the tournament Stupak came out strong dropping Tennessee's Maria Sorbello in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. Meanwhile Byrne continued to play well, winning her third straight match of the tournament, defeating Caroline Lilley of Kentucky, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.

 "Tara (Byrne) did a great job again today," said Brooks. "She got off to a good start and then had some trouble during the second set; however she bounced back and played solid to close out the contest. Yevgeniya looked a little off her game today, but was still able to get a win and move on. Part of her struggles in singles was due to the fact that we've been at this tournament for a couple of days now and due to her ranking, she hasn't been able to play until the Main Draw bracket opened today. She's a great player for us and I believe she'll bounce back and play even better tomorrow."

To follow the tournament please visit www.ETSUBUCS.com or the tournament central website at www.WAKEFORESTSPORTS.com.