Saturday, September 23, 2006

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Sept. 23, 2006) - The ETSU women's tennis team finished day two with strong performances Saturday at the Deacon Classic, hosted by Wake Forest University. The Lady Bucs were backed by solid efforts from the Ukrainian duo of Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Masha Ilina (Kyiv, Ukraine) as they went on to win the Flight B doubles final, as well as Stupak making it to the Flight A singles final on Sunday.

In Flight A singles, Stupak needed three sets (6-2, 3-6, 6-1) to oust Olga Votavova of Syracuse to place her in the semifinals against Sigrid Fischer of Indiana. In the semis, Stupak defeated Fischer in straight sets, 6-1, 6-5, to propel her in the Flight A singles final tomorrow against No. 32 Alex Hirsch of Wake Forest.

Local native Tara Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) won her first match of the day in Flight B, as she defeated Maria Vasilyeva of Syracuse 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, but fell to Ally Mueller of Ohio State in the semifinals consolation bracket 7-6, 6-2.

In Flight C action, Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) split both of her matches as she lost the first match, 6-2, 6-2 to Ashley Lipton of Syracuse. In the second match, Volobueva only needed two sets (6-3, 6-3) to defeat Lindsey Stuckey of Indiana. Volobueva will face Edina Horvath of Kansas on Sunday to decide the fifth and sixth place finishers in Flight C.

Whitney Trotter (Guadalajara, Mexico) continued her winning ways in Flight D, as she defeated Sara Kinning of Ohio State, 7-5, 6-1; however Trotter missed the finals as she dropped her semifinal match to Jenna Loeb of host school Wake Forest, 6-2, 6-1. Trotter will compete in the third place match tomorrow against Carolina Huignard of Syracuse.

The Lady Bucs started the morning off on the right foot as doubles partners Ilina and Stupak defeated McGaffigin and Perton of Indiana 8-4 in the Flight B finals. "This was a good win for the girls as Indiana had a really strong team, said head coach Steve Brooks.

"I am happy with how the girls played today, because they were able to bounce back after losing some early matches," said Brooks. I am happy for Stupak for her play in both the singles and doubles, it was good to get win against a ranked team like Indiana. It will be nice for the girls to have the next few weeks off, because they will be able to recover since the last couple weeks have been hard on their bodies."

The ETSU women's tennis team wraps up the Deacon Classic on Sunday with the final round of singles action. After this weekend's tournament, the Lady Bucs will have over two weeks off before they compete in the ITA Regional at UNC in Chapel Hill, N.C.