Tuesday, May 02, 2006

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (May 2, 2006) - The ETSU women's tennis team had a big day as the ITA released their rankings and the Atlantic-Sun Conference announced the 2006 All-Conference team.

The Lady Bucs who have not earned an ITA ranking since 2001 are currently ranked 74^th, as they wait to find out their opponent for the upcoming NCAA championships during tomorrow night's selection show on ESPNews.

In their inaugural season in the Atlantic-Sun, ETSU picked up the player of the year, coach of the year, and freshman of the year honors.

ETSU's head coach Steve Brooks was tabbed as the Coach of the Year by his peers after leading the Lady Bucs to its first-ever postseason title. The Lady Bucs had a 23-4 overall record and a perfect 9-0 conference record.  "I'm real honored that all the coaches voted for me, I don't really know what to say, I'm just very honored," said Brooks.

Junior Masha Ilina (Kyiv, Ukraine) was named the A-Sun Player of the Year award after compiling a 27-13 overall record and a perfect 8-0 conference in the No. 1 position. Ilina is currently second on the career singles wins list. She trails former Lady Buc Kristy Pace-Wagner by only 13 wins.

Freshman Tara Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) was unanimously selected for the A-Sun Freshman of the Year award after a 28-11 overall record and a 7-0 conference record. Byrne is currently tied for second on the single-season wins list.

"I'm just really excited about the girls being named to the All-Conference and All-Freshman teams and all of the girls are really excited about being ranked. I think that it just shows that hard work does pay off," said Brooks.

Atlantic Sun Conference

2006 Women's Tennis All-Conference Honors

Player of the Year

Masha Ilina, ETSU

Freshman of the Year

Tara Byrne

Coach of the Year

Steve Brooks, ETSU

First Team All-Conference