Thursday, April 10, 2008

ROCK HILL, S.C. (April 10, 2008) - The Lady Bucs tennis team fell to Big South foe Winthrop in a tight, 4-3 match on Thursday afternoon at Winthrop Memorial Courts. The Lady Bucs fall to 12-10 overall while the Eagles improve to 10-11.

Winthrop claimed the doubles point as Sara Abutovic and Yelena Fadina defeated Tara Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Vita Moskaliova (Minsk, Belarus), 8-4 in the second slot while Whitney Trotter (Guadalajara, Mexico) and Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) fell to Laris Bekmetova and Lisa Wilkinson, 8-4. In the top position Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) defeated Elizaveta Zaytseva and Patricia Coimbra, 8-1.

The Lady Bucs battled picking up wins in the top three positions. In the No. 1 slot, Olya Batsula dropped Elizaveta Zaytseva, 7-5, 6-1 as Tara Byrne rallied from a set down to defeat Patricia Coimbra, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 2 slot. Competing in the third position Elena Volobueva defeated Sara Abutovic, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

Winthrop closed out the victory picking up wins in the bottom three positions. In the fourth position Andra Voinea (Brasov, Romania) fell to Lisa Wilkinson, 6-4, 6-0, while Vita Moskaliova fell to Laris Bekmetova, 6-2, 6-2. The match was clinched when Whitney Trotter fell to Paula Pereira in a hard-fought battle, 6-1, 6-7, 6-2.

"It was a really good, really close match. It went down to the last match and we just couldn't pull it out. Olya, Elena and Tara played very, very well today. Overall, it was a good experience for us and hopefully it will prepare us to have a good showing next weeked in the conference tournament. Hopefully we will have everyone healthy and finally have our full lineup in," said head coach Steve Brooks.

The Lady Bucs will return home to face former SoCon rival UNC Greensboro on Saturday, April 12 for the final match of the regular season. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m. Follow all ETSU women's tennis action at www.ETSUBucs.com.

WU 4, ETSU 3

Singles

No. 1- Olya Batsula (ETSU) def. Elizaveta Zaytseva (WU) 7-5, 6-1

No. 2- Tara Byrne (ETSU) def. Patricia Coimbra (WU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2

No. 3- Elena Volobueva (ETSU) def. Sara Abutovic (WU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4

No. 4- Lisa Wilkinson (WU) def. Andra Voinea (ETSU) 6-4, 6-0

No. 5- Larisa Bekmetova (WU) def. Vita Moskaliova (ETSU) 6-2, 6-2

No. 6- Paula Pereira (WU) def. Whitney Trotter (ETSU) 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-2

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

Doubles

No. 1- Batsula/Stupak (ETSU) def. Zaytseva/Coimbra (WU) 8-1

No. 2- Abutovic/Fadina (WU) def. Byrne/Moskaliova (ETSU) 8-4

No. 3- Bekmetova/Wilkinson (WU) def. Trotter/Volobueva (ETSU) 8-5

            Order of Finish: 1,2,3