JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (March 16, 2012) – The ETSU women’s tennis team opened the Atlantic Sun season with a 6-1 victory against Jacksonville on Friday afternoon at the Keith Watson Family Tennis Complex.           

ETSU (4-6, 1-0 A-Sun) began the day with its fourth doubles sweep of the season and carried its momentum into singles play by taking five of the six matches to open the conference season in the win column. Jacksonville (3-8, 0-1 A-Sun) saw its losing streak extend to five after taking just one singles point on the day.

“This was a great way for this team to start off the conference season,” ETSU assistant coach Travis Sandlant said. “It was good to see a few people step up in certain situations. Giulia [Andreazza] was in fine form and played exceptional.”

The Bucs’ doubles sweep came in three tight sets. At No. 1 doubles, seniors Paula Jaime (Madrid, Spain) and Karina Kedzo (Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) teamed up for the first time since Feb. 25 against South Carolina State, and defeated Aline Staudt and Natalia Melibeu 8-7. Giulia Andreazza (Balneario Camboriu, Brazil) and Kelsey Williams (Sunbury, Australia) paired together for the first time in their careers, and took the No. 2 doubles point from Djessika Bezerra and Virginia Iwinski 8-5. Senior Marine Wieliczko (Rouen, France) and freshman Jessica Brumit (Elizabethton, Tenn.) rounded out ETSU's dominant doubles performance with a 9-7 victory over Veronique Spencer and Gabriela Bartos.

ETSU’s dominant day continued into singles where the Bucs earned five straight-set victories. Three separate Buccaneers ended two-match losing streaks with Jaime defeating Staudt 7-5, 6-2 in the No. 1 match, Andreazza defeating Bartos 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 2 slot and Diana Navrostska (Lviv, Ukraine) winning the No. 5 point with a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of Virginia Iwinski.

Wieliczko and Brumit used dominant performances to add to their wins from ETSU’s last match against Wake Forest. Wieliczko allowed JU’s Melibeu to win just two games in a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 3, while Brumit surrendered just one game in a 6-0, 6-1 victory for the No. 6 point.

The ETSU women’s tennis team will look to make it a 2-0 start in A-Sun play when it faces North Florida at the UNF Tennis Complex on Saturday at 2 p.m.

“We will need this team effort again tomorrow in order to come away with another victory.”

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