Wednesday, March 30, 2005

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Mar. 30, 2005) - The East Tennessee State women's tennis team dropped a tough 4-3 decision to Winthrop University on the ETSU tennis courts in a Wednesday afternoon match.  The Bucs fall to 14-5 overall and are 4-1 in the SoCon play, while Eagles improve to 14-3 on the season.

                ETSU played solid in doubles and started the match by winning the point. Sandie Knight (Adamstown, Australia) and Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) took the first match of the day against Ana Paula Novaes and Paula Takahashi 8-1 at No. 2.  Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) and Gemma Halim (Jakarta, Indonesia) then clinched the point with an 8-5 win at the third slot over Danielle Moita and Renata Caceres. Doubles action concluded with a win at No. 1 for ETSU by Masha Ilina (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Sylwia Ziolkowska (Warsaw, Poland) over Ana Maria Simanca and Jenny Andrade, 8-6.

                In singles, the Knight quickly defeated Andrade at No. 1 6-1, 6-1 to give the Bucs a 2-0 lead. Winthrop would then take the next four points to win the match. Batsula would then bring in ETSU's final point at No. 5 over Caceres (6-1, 6-3) for the 4-3 final.                      

                "Winthrop is a good team, they go the NCAA's each year and it's a tough loss," stated Head Coach Steve Brooks. "We played well in doubles, but just were not tough enough in singles and we need to get tougher."

                The Bucs continue their homestand with two games this weekend. ETSU will host Western Carolina on Saturday, April 2 at 1:00 p.m. and UT Chattanooga on Sunday, April 3 at noon.

East Tennessee State 3, Winthrop 4  

Doubles

1.  Ilina/Ziolkowska (ETSU) d. Simanca/Andrade (WU) 8-6

2.  Volobueva/Knight (ETSU) d. Novaes/Takahashi (WU) 8-1

3. Batsula/Halim (ETSU) d.  Moita/Caceres (WU) 8-5

Order of Finish:2, 3, 1

Singles

1. Sandie Knight (ETSU) d.  Jenny Andrade (WU) 6-1, 6-1

2. Ana Paula Novaes (WU) d. Masha Ilina (ETSU) 6-4, 6-4

3. Danielle Moita (WU) d. Sylwia Ziolkowska (ETSU) 7-6 (8), 4-6

4. Paula Takahashi (WU) d. Elena Volobueva (ETSU) 6-0, 6-3

5. Olya Batsula (ETSU) d.  Renata Caceres (WU) 6-1, 6-3

6. Ana Maria Simanca (WU) d. Gemma Halim (ETSU) 6-3, 6-2

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6*, 5

* - Clinching point