WILMINGTON, N.C. (Feb. 23, 2012) –-: Junior Diana Navrostska (Lviv, Ukraine) won her second-consecutive match and freshman Jessica Brumit (Elizabethton, Tenn.) earned her first collegiate dual victory, but it was not enough as the ETSU women’s tennis team fell 4-2 to UNC Wilmington on Thursday afternoon at the UNCW Tennis Complex.

Navrostska continued her winning ways with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Christina Riley at No. 5 singles, and bumped her dual record back up to .500 at 2-2 this spring. Brumit went on to defeat Casey Dashiell 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 6 match, but it was the last victory ETSU (1-3) captured before dropping two-consecutive points to give Wilmington (3-4) the match.

“We had a few opportunities to step up, but didn’t rise to the occasion,” ETSU assistant coach Travis Sandlant said. “We have to learn to use every opportunity presented and take advantage of them to find a way to win. We don’t necessarily have to play our best tennis, but just find a way to grit our teeth and win.”

ETSU has now suffered its third-consecutive loss after starting the season with a 4-3 home win against Radford back on Jan. 28. Following the season-opening win, the Buccaneers fell on the road to then-No. 47 Georgia State and then-No. 61 Virginia Tech before dropping Thursday’s match to the Seahawks.

Wilmington got the afternoon rolling with a doubles sweep, as Kelly Cameron and Angie Sekely started tings off at No. 1 doubles with a victory over ETSU’s No. 10 regionally ranked team of seniors Paula Jaime (Madrid, Spain) and Karina Kedzo (Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) – playing together for the first time all season – 8-2. The Seahawks sealed the point at No. 3 doubles when Olga Blank and Dashiell defeated Brumit and Marine Wieliczko (Rouen, France) 8-4.

The Bucs fell in a 2-0 hole at the start of singles play after freshman Kelsey Williams (Sunbury, Australia) was defeated by Cameron 6-2, 6-0 in Williams’ first-ever match at the No. 3 position. ETSU recovered by winning the next two points from Brumit and Navrostska to tie the match at 2-2, but suffered a crucial loss at No. 2 singles as Jaime, the team-leader in wins, dropped just her fifth match of the year 6-4, 6-4 to Sekely. The senior’s singles record now stands at 14-5 through the fall and spring seasons.

With darkness becoming a factor, the No. 1 and No. 4 singles matches were delayed and moved 10 minutes down the road to Cape Fear Country Club in favor of courts with lighting. The change in scenery didn’t improve things for the Bucs, as Lee defeated Wieliczko in a three-setter 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 at No. 1 singles to earn Wilmington the clinching, fourth point of the match. Sophomore Giulia Andreaaza (Balneario Camboriu, Brazil) left the No. 4 singles match unfinished, trailing Alyssa Ritchie in the second set 6-3, 4-3.

The ETSU women’s tennis team will look to turn things around on Saturday, when it travels to Orangeburg, S.C. to take on South Carolina State at 11 a.m.

For more information on ETSU tennis, please visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the tennis links.