Women’s tennis looks to extend two-match winning streak

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (March 8, 2012) – Winners of each of its last two matches, the ETSU women’s tennis team will head back to the road this weekend for meetings with two formerly ITA-ranked squads in Marshall and Wake Forest.

The Bucs matchup with Marshall is scheduled to take place in Huntington, W. Va., at the Brian David Fox Tennis Center on Friday at 1 p.m., while the Sunday contest with Wake Forest is slated to be held at the Demon Deacons’ Indoor Tennis Courts in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

ETSU (3-4) will look to turn the success its had between the Bristol Racquet Club and Buddy Hartsell Tennis Center into its first road win of the year. The Bucs are a perfect 3-0 at home and are in the midst of a 21-match home winning streak dating back to March 24, 2008. The opposite holds true for ETSU on the road, where the Bucs have not won a non-conference match since March 6 of last season when they earned a 4-2 win over Florida Atlantic.

Last week, ETSU snapped a four-match losing streak with a 5-2 defeat of Liberty. Senior Paula Jaime (Madrid, Spain) won in straight sets at No. 1 singles to earn her 80th career singles victory, making her just the sixth Buccaneer all-time to reach as many wins. After winning in straight sets again on Tuesday in ETSU’s 6-1 win over Western Carolina, Jaime now sits five wins back of former women’s tennis standout Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) for fifth place in all-time singles victories at ETSU. Jaime’s current record this season is 16-6 overall, 4-3 dual match. 

Freshman Jessica Brumit (Elizabethton, Tenn.) has also had a hot racquet for the Bucs as she has won each of her last four singles matches. In both of ETSU’s two recent victories, the former Elizabethton High School standout defeated her opponent in straight sets including a 6-0, 6-0 win on Tuesday against WCU. Brumit’s overall record this season is 11-6 and 4-3 in dual matches.

Also earning two victories on the Bucs’ home stand was sophomore Giulia Andreazza (Balneario Camboriu, Brazil). The sophomore ended a four-match losing skid against Liberty with a 7-5, 7-5 defeat of Rebekah Jenkins at No. 3 singles, and made it two wins in a row on Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-2 win against the Catamounts’ Karen Jimenez. Andreazza’s record continues to steadily creep back towards .500, as she is currently 7-9 overall and 2-4 in dual matches.

Marshall (5-6) is also coming off two-consecutive wins and is a perfect 3-0 at home this season. The Thundering Herd defeated Liberty 7-0 last Friday – the day before the Flames were defeated by ETSU – and most recently took down Virginia Tech last Saturday. Against Tech, Marshall split the six singles matches 3-3, but won the all-important doubles point to start the day and eventually earn the victory.

Maria Voscekova leads Marshall in singles with a 6-4 spring record. All 10 of Voscekova’s matches have come in the No. 2 singles position as she currently rides a three-match winning streak. Voscekova also pairs with Dominika Zaprazna in doubles, where the tandem is 8-2 this spring at the No. 1 position.

Andreazza and senior Karina Kedzo (Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) met with Marshall’s Ellie Ball and Kristina Koprcina, respectively, in singles during the fall season and were defeated by the Herd in each match. Marshall also faced ETSU in four doubles contests through the fall and walked away with the win each time.

Wake Forest (1-7) has lost its last four matches. Each of the Demon Deacons’ last four contests has come on the road in defeats at the hands of NC State, North Carolina, William and Mary and Virginia Commonwealth. Wake’s only victory of the season came at home in a shocker against then-No. 39 South Florida back on Feb. 19 when the Demon Deacons were ranked No. 75 nationally. The victory was also the highest-ranked win in Wake Forest head coach Jeff Wyshner’s era in Winston-Salem.

Kayla Duncan leads Wake Forest from the singles standpoint. Duncan – Wake’s usual No. 1 singles starter – went 9-5 through the fall season and currently sits at 13-9 overall after compiling a 4-4 record so far this spring. She also holds a 4-5 overall record against nationally ranked opponents.

Duncan is also part of Wake Forest’s No. 1 doubles team along with Kathryn Talbert. The two are a team-best 14-5 overall when paired together and hold a 5-1 record at No. 1 doubles this spring.

ETSU last played Wake Forest on Jan. 30 of last season in Winston-Salem and were swept by the Demon Deacons 7-0.

Live stats will be provided for both weekend matches. Friday’s live stats will be available courtesy of HerdZone.com, while Sunday’s live stats are available courtesy of WakeForestSports.com.

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