Sunday, March 13, 2005

STATESBORO, Ga. (Mar. 13, 2005) - The East Tennessee State women's tennis team fought and won a challenging battle against the Georgia Southern Eagles on Sunday afternoon at Hanner Courts, 4-3. The Bucs are now 11-3 overall, 4-0 SoCon, while the Eagles are 5-5, 2-1.

                "It was a tough battle, today was only the third time we've lost the doubles point this season. We were tired from the long road trip and it was good to get the win," stated Head Coach Steve Brooks. "Georgia Southern is a very good team and will win their share of matches in the SoCon."

                After the Buccaneer duo of Sandie Knight (Adamstown, Australia) and Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) beat the Eagles' Stephanie Tyrell and Kimberly Wollett 8-4 to win the No. 2 doubles for ETSU, Georgia Southern bounced back to take the next two doubles affairs, and the overall point.

In singles play, the Bucs took the first match, as No. 5 Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) beat Heather Reynolds 6-0, 6-4 to extend her winning streak to 12 matches. The Eagles then bounced back to win at the No. 4 slot, with Szilvia Zsakay succeeding over Volobueva 6-2, 6-4. But from that point, ETSU was able to clinch the match, taking three consecutive singles battles.  Knight came first, beating Tyrell 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1, followed by Masha Ilina's (Kyiv, Ukraine) 6-1, 7-5 win against Ciara Finucane and the clinching No. 6 win that saw ETSU's captain Gemma Halim (Jakarta, Indonesia) beat Wollett 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.  Bruneteaux took the final match for Georgia Southern, beating Sylwia Ziolkowska (Warsaw, Poland) 6-7 (9-7), 6-2, 6-4.

"It is good to be 4-0 in the conference," said Brooks. " We look forward to resting and getting our strength back in preparation for our next match against Davidson."

                The Bucs continue SoCon action as they travel to face Davidson on Friday, March 18. The match against the Wildcats is set to begin at 3:00 p.m.

East Tennessee State 4, Georgia Southern 3

Doubles

1. Finucane/Zsakay (GSU) d. Ilina/Ziolkowska (ETSU) 9-7

2. Knight/Volobueva (ETSU) d. Tyrell/Wollett (GSU) 8-4

3. Bruneteaux/Reynolds (GSU) d. Batsula/Halim (ETSU) 9-8 (4)

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles

1. Sandie Knight (ETSU) d. Stephanie Tyrell (GSU) 6-3, 6-4

2. Masha Ilina (ETSU) d. Ciara Finucane (GSU) 6-1, 7-5

3. Charlotte Bruneteaux (GSU) d. Sylwia Ziolkowska (ETSU) 6-7 (9-7), 6-2, 6-4

4. Szilvia Zsakay (GSU) d. Elena Volobueva (ETSU) 6-2, 6-4

5. Olya Batsula (ETSU) d. Heather Reynolds (GSU) 6-0, 6-4

6. Gemma Halim (ETSU) d. Kimberly Wollett (GSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1

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

* - Clinching Point