Saturday, April 05, 2003

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (April 5, 2003) - East Tennessee State University's women's tennis team's rally fell short, Saturday afternoon, as Arkansas State defeated the Buccaneers, 4-3, in a non-conference match. The Indians won the doubles point, defeating the Buccaneers at the number one and three doubles positions. The Buccaneer tandem of Tatiana Arriarian (Cochabamba, Bolivia) and Courtney McInnis (Waterboro, Maine) defeated Arkansas State's Barbara Gombosi and Catherine Carui, 8-2, at number two doubles. Arkansas State took the early lead as #85 Liga Geme defeated ETSU's Gemma Halim (Jakarta, Indonesia) in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, at number one singles. At number two singles Megan McCoy dropped Buccaneer freshman, Jewel Aldea (Charleston, S.C.) 6-1, 6-1, to put the Indians up 3-0 in the match. The Buccaneer's rallied to win the next three matches as Jessica Irey (Clewiston, Fla.) defeated Marusa Pogachik, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (3) at number three singles, McInnis defeated Lica Lucas at number four singles (7-6 (1), 6-0) and Arriaran cruised by Gombosi, 6-3, 6-0, at the number five position. In the final match of the day ETSU's ,Aimee Villavicencio (Louisville, Ky.) lost a three set match to Carui, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. "I like the fight we are showing here at the end of the season," said Buccaneer head coach Steve Brooks. "Both teams that we played this weekend are strong teams and I hope we can build on this as we finish out the season." With the loss the Buccaneers move to 10-14 on the year. ETSU returns home for their final three matches of the season as they take on conference rival Chattanooga tomorrow at 1 p.m. Arkansas State 4, ETSU 3 Singles #1 Geme def. Halim, 6-3, 6-1 #2 McCoy def. Aldea, 6-1, 6-1 #3 Irey def. Pogachik, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (3) #4 McInnis def. Lucas, 7-6 (1), 6-0 #5 Arriaran def. Gombosi, 6-3, 6-0 #6 Carui def. Villavicencio, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 Doubles #1 Geme/McCoy def. Halim/Irey, 8-5 #2 Arriaran/McInnis def. Gombosi/Carui, 8-2 #3 Lucas/Pogachik def. Aldea/Villavicencio, 8-1