ORANGEBURG, S.C.  (Feb. 25, 2012) – The ETSU women’s tennis team went up against an undefeated South Carolina State squad on Saturday at the SCSU Tennis Court and became the Lady Bulldogs’ sixth victim of the season in a 5-2 loss.

The day was highlighted by freshman Jessica Brumit (Elizabethton, Tenn.) who won her second-consecutive match by defeating Laura Bosneag 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) at No. 6 singles, and senior Marine Wieliczko (Rouen, France) who broke her three-match losing streak in a straight-set victory, 6-2, 6-3, against Akilah James in the No. 2 match.

“Although we lost today, I feel it was a match that could have gone either way,” ETSU assistant coach Travis Sandlant said. “If we just find a way to bring it all together on the same day, it’ll be a different story.”

“Brumit had a great weekend and if she keeps working as hard as she is now then she will be tough to beat at her spot.”

ETSU (1-4) has now lost four-consecutive road matches, and will try to put the month of February behind it after ending the month without a win. Meanwhile, SCSU (6-0) kept its hopes for an undefeated season alive. The Lady Bulldogs have now defeated four Atlantic Sun schools this season, having defeated Stetson (Feb. 17), USC Upstate (Feb. 12) and Jacksonville (Feb. 4) in their season opener.

The day started at 11 a.m., with SCSU taking two of three doubles matches to walk away with the first point. James and Maria Craciun earned the Lady Bulldogs a point at No. 1 doubles by defeating seniors Paula Jaime (Madrid, Spain) and Karina Kedzo (Puerto Ordaz, Venezulea) 8-3. SC State’s other victory came at No. 2 doubles with Sabrina Mendez and Suhaila Jad winning against sophomore Giulia Andreazza (Balneario Camboriu, Brazil) and junior Diana Navrostska (Lviv, Ukraine) by the same score, 8-3. The Bucs avoided the sweep as Wieliczko and Brumit handled No. 3 doubles in a 8-5 victory against Victoria Khatcei and Katarina Barborikova.

Five of the six singles points were settled in straight sets, with only Navrostska and Khatcei pushing the No. 5 singles match to three sets. After dropping the first set, Navrostska rebounded to win the second in a tiebreak but did not sustain the momentum in a 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 battle. SCSU also grabbed the No. 1, 3, 4 and 5 singles matches, as Jaime, Andreazza, freshman Kelsey Williams (Sunbury, Australia) and Navrostska all fell in straight sets. The closest match came at No. 1 singles with Jaime dropping two close sets to Jad, 7-6, 7-5.

The ETSU women’s tennis team will end its five-match road swing next Thursday when it travels to Asheville, N.C. to take on UNC Asheville at 2 p.m.

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