Friday, April 06, 2007

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 6, 2007) - The ETSU women's tennis team picked up it's sixth straight victory on Friday as they swept conference foe Mercer, 7-0. The Lady Bucs improve to 13-9 on the year and 7-1 in conference action, while Mercer falls to 5-17, 2-7.

 

The Lady Bucs took the early 1-0 lead as they took all three doubles matches. Competing in No. 1 doubles Masha Ilina (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) breezed by Lauriane Auvergne and Irys Citko, 8-2, while Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) cruised past Kelly Blount and Anna Wieslander, 8-1 in the second position. In the No. 3 slot Tara Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Brittany Stewart (Nashville, Tenn.) defeated Rachel Kerley and Priscilla Dias, 8-4.

 

In singles action, Stupak cruised by Irys Citko, 6-1, 6-1 in the No. 2 position, while Batsula blanked Anna Wieslander, 6-0, 6-0 in the third position. Competing in the No. 4 slot Byrne defeated Priscilla Dias, 6-0, 6-1 as Volobueva defeated Rachel Kerley, 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 5 position. In the sixth slot, Vita Moskaliova (Minsk, Belarus) rolled past Karen Bellman, 6-2, 6-3.

 

Competing in the No. 1 position senior Masha Ilina cruised to her 100th career victory as she defeated Lauriane Auvergne, 6-1, 6-2. She is the first Lady Buc to ever win 100 matches.

 

"I'm extremely proud of Masha for reaching this milestone. She is the only female at ETSU to do it and only one of four ETSU tennis players to ever reach it. It's such an accomplishment because for the last three years she has played mainly in the No. 1 position," said head coach Steve Brooks.

 

"It was also good to win another match and our next goal is to earn a share of the conference title. I'm really proud of the girls and they are doing what they need to do to be ready for the tournament," added Brooks.

 

The Lady Bucs will wrap up A-Sun regular season action on Wednesday as they take on Kennesaw State. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m. For all ETSU women's tennis action, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.

 

 

ETSU 7, MU 0

Singles

No. 1- Masha Ilina (ETSU) def. Lauriane Auvergne (MU) 6-1, 6-2

No. 2- Yevgeniya Stupak (ETSU) def. Irys Citko (MU) 6-1, 6-1

No. 3- Olya Batsula (ETSU) def. Anna Wieslander (MU) 6-0, 6-0

No. 4- Tara Byrne (ETSU) def. Priscilla Dias (MU) 6-0, 6-1

No. 5- Elena Volobueva (ETSU) def. Rachel Kerley (MU) 6-4, 6-4

No. 6- Vita Moskaliova (ETSU) def. Karen Bellman (MU) 6-2, 6-3

 

Doubles

No. 1- Ilina/Batsula (ETSU) def. Auvergne/Citko (MU) 8-2

No. 2- Stupak/Volobueva (ETSU) def. Blount/Wieslander (MU) 8-1

No. 3- Byrne/Stewart (ETSU) def. Kerley/Dias (MU) 8-4